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 quantitative
research.
I did my first "research study" of
churches about 40 years ago, which involved the comparison of church
services in more than 100 churches in the Jackson, Michigan area over a
one-year period. Still a teenager at the time, I carefully tracked many
aspects of the formats used using self-made data sheets. Unfortunately all of the data and analysis has been lost, but
it was an interesting experience that shaped me significantly both in terms
of doing research and in my understanding of the Christian faith. Over the
years I have conducted congregational studies involving experimental
research, surveys and informal interviews.
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:
Roger
Heuser and Doug Peterson have put together some helpful resources
related to methods of studying church ministry for their classes at
Vanguard University.
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."
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.
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.
Bill Prevette, a
doctoral student with whom I worked at the Oxford Center for Mission
Studies and the University of Wales, offers an amazing 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. I have compiled a list of the materials
on his site with links but check out his web site as well: prevetteresearch.net
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:
