Church Attendance Debate

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There has been debate over the accuracy of church attendance figures obtained through self-report measures such as those used on most major social surveys. In the early 1990s, approximately 40 percent of Americans reported weekly church attendance on a number of social surveys including the Gallup Poll. However, this data did not seem in line with denominational reports of church attendance decline.

In 1993, Hadaway, Marler and Chaves investigated this contradiction between self-reported and denominational data. Some of their data collection actually included visiting congregations and counting attendees. The results from their study suggest that actual church attendance is about half of the self-reported figures which was a significant finding. What accounts for this difference? Researchers have suggested that perhaps social surveys missed harder-to-reach populations that, on average, are less likely to attend church. Singles and dual-income families are some examples of harder-to-reach populations. Also, perhaps survey respondents actually over report because of the desire to present themselves as socially acceptable people. In this case that meant that they would be more likely to report weekly church attendance regardless of their actual church attendance.

The reasons for why this difference exists are not entirely clear yet. Nonetheless, whatever the reasons for this gap between self-reported and actual church attendance, it is something that most researchers interested in studying congregations pay attention to.

Hadaway, C. Kirk, Penny Long Marler and Mark Chaves (1993). What the Polls Don't Show: A Closer Look at Church Attendance. American Sociological Review,58(6), 741-52