Ministry Research Methods

by Don Ratcliff, Ph.D.
Price-LeBar Professor of Christian Education
Wheaton College

I am very interested in the use of research in the context of Christian ministry. I think that both qualitative and quantitative research approaches are useful in this regard, although I think that good qualitative research almost always includes a quantitative component (and vice versa). I am particularly interested in research related to educational ministries in the church, and any other area specifically related to spiritual formation of believers.

I think it is important for church and parachurch ministries to move beyond the use of surveys, which too often tend to be simplistic and not the best quality, and begin to use systematic interviews, observations, and even experimental approaches, as well as making the most of archival data. One does not have to know advanced statistics to do a good piece of ministry research, although some statistics can be invaluable in conducting good quality quantitative research.

For many years it has been my dream to author or coauthor a book in this area. For now, a few of my writings related to research methods are located in the column to the right, which can be obtained with a click of the mouse.

Here are a few resources related to ministry research that I have found to be of great value:

• William Yount's book Research Design and Statistical Analysis or Christian Ministry [the entire book is available without charge by clicking this link].
  Rick (as his friends call him) has put together an extensive resource, half of which is research methods and half is on statistics. He has infused many wonderful examples taken from the work of his doctoral students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have known Rick for quite a few years, and appreciate his passion for ministry. He is also a great public  speaker, and a regular at the North American Professors of Christian Education annual conference.

• For many years Ted Ward has applied strong qualitative methodology to the study of Christian education. Now retired from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he has a legacy of hundreds of students who have been inspired to use high quality research methodology in almost every country in the world. I was deeply honored to share a session on qualitative research methods with Ted at the North American Professors of Christian Education annual conference a few years ago. Here are a couple of web sites on his work to examine:

• Ted's biography and bibliography

• The Ted Ward Consultation Web Page

• Roger Heuser and Doug Peterson have put together some helpful resources related to methods of studying church ministry for their classes at Vanguard University.

• Research Overview

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• Links to Religious Research Web Pages

• Nearing two decades of development and growth is "congregational research"--a method of identifying and studying the distinctive culture of an individual church. The most important resource to consult in this area is Studying Congregations edited by Nancy T. Ammerman, and others.

• I have also been impressed with the Christian Research Association in Australia, and particularly an interactive CD on conducting research titled "Research Methods for  Ministry and Mission."

• Boston College hosts The Center for Congregational Research and Development, which often includes research related to ministry in the church.

• The Hartford Center for Religion Research includes a substantial section on congregational research and includes data from the largest survey of churches conducted in the United States to date.

• Leadership featured an article titled "Sidestepping the Pitfalls of Congegational Research" by James Engel a couple of decades ago.

• Congregational research is one of the many areas that interface with practical theology at "Faithful Practices" which is sponsored by Princeton Theological Seminary and funded by a Lilly Endowment grant.

• Resources for American Christianity offers summaries of ministry-related studies conducted, also with funding by Lilly.

• The Research Services area of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. is a helpful resource to consider, and particularly noteworthy is their U. S. Congregational Life Survey.

• The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion provides links to a wide variety of web-based data related to research in religion and congregations.

• The Alban Institute also provides research related to church ministry.

• Samuel Lee, one of my doctoral students at Talbot School of Theology, put together a "blogging" site that includes a wide variety of research resources. It is located at www.researchonline.blogspot.com.

I am sure there are many other internet resources available that provide details about congregational study and ministerial research, but at least this is a beginning.

Here are some of my papers related to research methods in ministry contexts:

Research of Children in Education Ministry Contexts

Child-Assisted Data Collection and Analysis in Children's Spirituality Research

The Beginnings of a Christian Perspective on Qualitative Research

Examples of Qualitative Studies in Education and Educational Ministry

Sources on Methods of Research of Children and Examples of Research  of Children's Spirituality

Lecture Notes from a Class Taught in Educational Research

There are other books as well as individual chapters in books that relate to the research methodologies involved in studying ministry:

An Introduction to Theological Research by Cyril Barber & Robert Krauss (all)

How Can I Get Them to Listen? by James Engel (all)

Research in Religious Education ed. Leslie Francis, William Kay, & William Campbell (two chapters)

The Gallup Guide: Reality Check for 21st Century Churches by George Gallup & D. Michael Lindsay (all)

Congregational Studies in the UK ed. Mathew Guest, Karin Tusting, & Linda Woodhead (six chapters)

The Spirit of the Child by David Hay with Rebecca Nye (three chapters)

Measures of Religiosity ed. Peter Hill & Ralph Hood (all)

Spiritual Assessment by David Hodge (all)

Religion in Childhood and Adolescence by Kenneth Hyde (appendices)

Religion in Education, vol. 3 ed. William K. Kay & Leslie J. Francis (two chapters)

Researching Children's Perspectives ed. Ann Lewis & Geoff Lindsay (one chapter)

Writing and Research in Religious Studies by Donald Miller & Barry Seltser (all)

Children's Spirituality ed. Donald Ratcliff (one chapter)

Handbook of Preschool Religious Education ed. Donald Ratcliff (one chapter)

Handbook of Children's Religious Education ed. Donald Ratcliff (one chapter)

Handbook of Youth Ministry ed. Donald Ratcliff & James Davies (one chapter)

Complete Guide to Volunteers in Religious Education by Donald Ratcliff & Blake Neff (several chapters)

The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence ed. Eugene Roehlkepartain, Pamela King, Linda Wagener, & Peter Benson (two chapters)

Research in Church and Mission by Viggo Sogaard (all)

Personal Knowledge and Beyond ed. James Spickard, J. Shawn Landres, & Meridth McGuire (all)

A Research Primer for Pastoral Care and Counseling by Larry VandeCreek (all)