Seeking the seekers in the sociology of religion

In the sociology of religion the terms "seekers" and "seekership" have been widely used in studies of recruitment and conversion, although with some i nconsistency as regards definitions and conclusions, A distinction between "seekers" and "non-seekers" by independent criteria is rarely made. In this study of the the Danish Baha'is the author applies a pragmatic characteriz ation of seekership based upon a set of defined attitudes and behaviour of the Baha'is in their pre-Baha'i religious lives. A subsequent analysis of t ile conversion stories of 88 informants showed that of those who had respon ded to Baha'i advertisements or had been recruited through public meetings, nearly all could be defined as seekers. This indicates that die proportion of seekers among proselytes in religious movements partly depends on the m ission strategy applied. Seekers also remarried more often than non-seekers , suggesting that the concept of seekership has the potential of being deve loped into a more general sociological category.