PhD in Sociology - Sociology of Religion in West Lafayette United States | Purdue University

The sociology of religion employs social science methodologies to examine: 1) how religious beliefs and practices shape individual and collective behavior, 2) how religious concepts, communities, and institutions impact various societal dimensions (including gender, sexuality, population dynamics, family structures, political systems, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, legal frameworks, and criminal activity), and 3) how these societal elements reciprocally influence religious phenomena (such as personal faith expressions, the evolution of religious movements, and religion's shifting societal role).

Our scholars utilize both qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate diverse subjects. Current research areas include: East Asian religious traditions (supported by our department's Center on Religion and Chinese Society and its associated publication), the religious experiences of immigrant populations, how religious conversion reveals insights about personal identity formation and its ties to cultural norms and social bonds, and how regional religious demographics (the distribution of different faiths and secular populations across urban, rural, and national contexts) shape local cultural environments.