The International Religion Survey

There is an increase in religious pluralism in many European societies, and the question arises as to how this trend can be explained and its impact on religions and society. The research seeks to provide insights into organisational and religious diversity and the impact of these diversity on religious vitality and on civil society. With a multidimensional measurement model, religious pluralism is comparable in different regions of Germany, Finland and Slovenia. These countries were chosen for different political and religious backgrounds — the beliefs of the Finns were mainly influenced by the Lutheran Church, and by the Roman Catholic Church as well as by the Communist regime. The Germans were selected in the survey as members of various branches of Christianity with a fairly large proportion of non-believers and unspecified. Data collection has taken place in one rural and one urban region in each country, with consideration being taken of the population density factor, which has so far often not been taken into account in the research on religious diversity. The process of linking religious diversity with other religious and social factors should help broaden our understanding of the relationship between religious life, social values and social cohesion. The research is part of the NORFACE research program, one of ten researches on religions.