Locality Studies of Religion: Methods and Approaches
Professor Linda Woodhead, Lancaster University, UKThis paper will consider a long tradition of Anglophone locality studies which consider religion, from the 'community studies' of the 1920s through to the 1970s (e.g. the Lynds in 'Middletown', USA and Margaret Stacey in Banbury, UK), to more recent studies by sociologists and anthropologists of religion (from John Burdick in Brazil to Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead in Kendal, England). Its first aim is to examine and analyse changing methodologies, and the presuppositions and interests which underlie them. The second aim is to offer critical-constructive reflections on these studies, and to consider what their achievements tell us about how locality studies of religion may be usefully and effectively conducted today. Thus the paper considers the current prospects of such studies, and makes some recommendations for how they might proceed. It is argued that (a) a mixed methodology is often appropriate, but that the combination of methods needs to be carefully designed and co-ordinated (b) one of the most significant benefits and potentials of locality studies lies in focusing attention on religions/religious groups as interactive rather than static entities.