Ministry Research Methods www.ministryresearch.net

 

It is crucial that good research be used in studying Christian ministry. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches are useful in this regard, although the best qualitative research almost always includes a quantitative component (and vice versa). Research related to educational ministries in the church is particularly important, as are other areas of ministry specifically related to spiritual formation of believers.

 

 

Church and parachurch ministries need 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 strong quantitative research.

 

 

A few resources related to ministry research that can be very helpful:

• The Christian Research in Action Network is a ning web site "for research-minded Christian practitioners engaged in critical inquiry into their practice so as to produce positive change." Lively discussions, the Action Research Journal, and many other helpful links are available.

 

• 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. Rick has a deep 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. 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
• 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.

 

• Also noteworthy is 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, a 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.

• Bill Prevette, who received his Ph.D. from the Oxford Center for Mission Studies and the University of Wales, offers an large number of resources on research of ministry, particularly cross-cultural ministry with children, but materials that also work well with other contexts of ministry research. Here is a list of the materials on his site with links but check out his web site as well: prevetteresearch.net