The Ties That Bind: Network Overlap Among Independent Congregations

  • Authors:

  • Buster G. Smith;Christopher P. Scheitle;Christopher D. Bader

  • Affiliations:

  • Catawba College, Salisbury, NC, USA;Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA;Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

  • Venue:
  • Social Science Computer Review
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

While the availability of Internet data on religious organizations has increased exponentially the use of such resources remains limited. The authors make use of a new research method involving weblink analysis to study nondenominational churches which are difficult to examine using conventional research techniques. One reason for this is the perception that independent churches lack the coherency of denominational populations, which creates methodological and theoretical challenges. The authors explore this assumption by examining the social and symbolic networks of a sample of independent congregations. Using the outgoing links from congregational websites, the authors find that there is more overlap than one might expect. This simultaneously enhances our understanding of this particular religious group as well as demonstrating the usefulness of such a research methodology.