Description

The Christian Liberalism Scale (CLS) is a psychometric tool designed to measure the liberal religious beliefs and attitudes of Christians. This scale examines various aspects of Christian liberalism, such as openness to reinterpreting scriptures, acceptance of the scientific method, emphasis on social justice and human rights, and acceptance of diverse religious and spiritual beliefs.

Purpose

The main objectives of the CLS are:
Assessment of Liberal Religious Beliefs: To capture the religious beliefs and attitudes that characterize Christian liberalism.
Understanding Religious and Social Attitudes: To examine how liberal religious beliefs influence individuals’ social and moral attitudes.
Group Classification: To classify individuals based on their level of liberalism, facilitating the comparison and analysis of different demographic and religious groups.
Support for Research and Interventions: To provide data for the development of research programs and interventions aimed at understanding and promoting Christian liberalism.

Analysis

The analysis of the data collected through the CLS involves the following steps:
Data Collection: Participants complete a questionnaire that includes questions about their liberal religious beliefs, moral values, social attitudes, and political ideology.
Quantitative Evaluation: Responses are scored and analyzed statistically using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and correlation analysis to understand the dominant trends and relationships.
Interpretation of Results: The results are interpreted to identify the dominant trends and relationships between liberal religious beliefs and other psychological and social factors.
Group Comparison: Differences in religious and social attitudes are examined across different demographic and religious groups.

Calibration

The calibration of the CLS includes:
Ensuring Reliability: The use of reliability indicators, such as Cronbach’s alpha, to assess the internal consistency of the responses.
Ensuring Validity: Confirming the validity of the tool through methods such as confirmatory factor analysis and other evaluation techniques.
Repetition Testing: Conducting repeat tests with different groups of participants to confirm the reliability and validity of the tool in various contexts.

Bibliography

Hunter, J. D. (1991). Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. Basic Books.
Wuthnow, R. (1988). The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II. Princeton University Press.
Guth, J. L., Kellstedt, L. A., Smidt, C. E., & Green, J. C. (1993). “Theological Perspectives and Environmentalism Among Religious Activists.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 32(4), 373-382.
Hoge, D. R., & Roozen, D. A. (1979). Understanding Church Growth and Decline. Pilgrim Press.
Wilcox, C. (1992). God’s Warriors: The Christian Right in Twentieth-Century America. Johns Hopkins University Press.