Interpretive issues in researching law and religion

For much of the twentieth century, it was assumed that quantitative methods would result in the most valuable, because generalisable, findings about religious behaviour and attitudes. The dominant theoretical tradition, the secularisation thesis often ignored the detail of the experiences or practices within particular religions, since it was assumed that these were backward looking or dying out. Today, by contrast, religion is more likely to be viewed positively in relation to a soulless and destructive modernity, and there is a great interest in religious experiences and practices. Alongside the ever present quantitative survey research, a significant portion of the revival of religious studies has been made up of qualitative case studies pursued by anthropologists and sociologists, using a range of methodologies including phenomenology, hermeneutics, narrative analysis and 'thick description' and also by 'micro' or 'interpretive' traditions in sociology.