National Congregations Study Switzerland surveys & censuses - waves 1 & 2

The unit of observation is the local religious group (congregation). Interviews were filled by a key informant of each congregation (in the vast majority of cases, the religious leader of the congregation).

In each wave, the sampling frame was constructed through a comprehensive census identifying the full population of local religious congregations. From this frame, a stratified random sample of congregations was drawn with disproportionate allocation to minority traditions; in the second wave, all congregations known to engage in environmental initiatives (“greening”) were sampled. Data were obtained from a single knowledgeable key informant in each congregation—almost always the spiritual leader—through Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI); in the second wave, a subset completed the survey via Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI). Particular complexities in sampling Roman Catholic parishes are detailed in the methodological report.

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In each wave, the sampling frame was constructed through a comprehensive census identifying the full population of local religious congregations. Each census was established using notably denominational lists and websites, as well as other previously compiled lists.

The definition of congregation we used was the same as that used by the American National Congregation Study.

More informations about census collection can be found in the methodological report.