Meten, weten en ontkerkelijking

Samenvatting

To measure is to know but in some instances the relationship between the two is not that simple. In the case of the declining membership of the Dutch churches researchers come to quite different conclusions. These differences can be attributed to the way in which relevant questions are formulated in surveys. Two types of questions are in use. The researcher can use a simple one-step question like ‘to what church or religious group do you consider yourself affiliated?’ A slightly more complicated strategy is also possible in which a two-step question is used. The first question is: ‘Do you consider yourself affiliated to a church or religious group?' If the answer is affirmative the respondent is asked to name the denomination of his choice. Because of its explicit character, the use of the two-step question yields more disaffiliated respondents than the single question. The discussion on the degree of secularization of Dutch society is in great part fueled by this difference in questioning. This conclusion is also relevant for the (wrong) statement that the exodus from Dutch churches has been stable over the past 15 years. Disaffiliation is in fact still going on as is also clear from membership counts provided by the churches themselves.