A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and
third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian
Village

J 2021

A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village

SHAVER, John Hayward, Thomas AJ WHITE, Patrick VAKAOTI and Martin LANG

Basic information

Original name

A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village

Authors

SHAVER, John Hayward (840 United States of America), Thomas AJ WHITE (554 New Zealand), Patrick VAKAOTI (242 Fiji) and Martin LANG (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 2021, 1932-6203

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

Impact factor

Impact factor: 3.752

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/21:00123491

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257160

UT WoS

000749604400017

Keywords in English

religious ritual; self-report bias; third-party judgments;

Abstract

V originále

Social desirability reporting leads to over estimations of church attendance. To date, researchers have treated over-reporting of church attendance as a general phenomenon, and have been unable to determine the demographic correlates of inaccuracy in these self-reports. By comparing over eight months of observational data on church attendance (n = 48 services) to self-report in a rural Fijian village, we find that 1) self-report does not reliably predict observed attendance, 2) women with two or more children (≥ 2) are more likely to over-report their attendance than women with fewer children (≤ 1), and 3) self-report of religiosity more reliably predicts observed church attendance than does self-report of church attendance. Further, we find that third-party judgements of church attendance by fellow villagers are more reliably associated with observed church attendance than self-report. Our findings suggest that researchers interested in estimating behavioral variation, particularly in domains susceptible to social desirability effects, should consider developing and employing third-party methods to mitigate biases inherent to self-report.

Links

EE2.3.20.0048, research and development project

Name: Laboratoř pro experimentální výzkum náboženství

Citovat

SHAVER, John Hayward, Thomas AJ WHITE, Patrick VAKAOTI and Martin LANG. A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village. PLOS ONE. Public Library of Science, 2021, vol. 16, 10 October, p. 1-13. ISSN 1932-6203. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257160.

@article{1816617,
   author = {Shaver, John Hayward and White, Thomas AJ and Vakaoti, Patrick and Lang, Martin},
   article_number = {10 October},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257160},
   keywords = {religious ritual; self-report bias; third-party judgments;},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1932-6203},
   journal = {PLOS ONE},
   title = {A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village},
   url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0257160},
   volume = {16},
   year = {2021}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1816617
AU  - Shaver, John Hayward - White, Thomas AJ - Vakaoti, Patrick - Lang, Martin
PY  - 2021
TI  - A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village
JF  - PLOS ONE
VL  - 16
IS  - 10 October
SP  - 1-13
EP  - 1-13
PB  - Public Library of Science
SN  - 19326203
KW  - religious ritual
KW  - self-report bias
KW  - third-party judgments;
UR  - https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0257160
N2  - Social desirability reporting leads to over estimations of church attendance. To date, researchers have treated over-reporting of church attendance as a general phenomenon, and have been unable to determine the demographic correlates of inaccuracy in these self-reports. By comparing over eight months of observational data on church attendance (n = 48 services) to self-report in a rural Fijian village, we find that 1) self-report does not reliably predict observed attendance, 2) women with two or more children (≥ 2) are more likely to over-report their attendance than women with fewer children (≤ 1), and 3) self-report of religiosity more reliably predicts observed church attendance than does self-report of church attendance. Further, we find that third-party judgements of church attendance by fellow villagers are more reliably associated with observed church attendance than self-report. Our findings suggest that researchers interested in estimating behavioral variation, particularly in domains susceptible to social desirability effects, should consider developing and employing third-party methods to mitigate biases inherent to self-report.
ER  -

SHAVER, John Hayward, Thomas AJ WHITE, Patrick VAKAOTI and Martin LANG. A comparison of self-report, systematic observation and third-party judgments of church attendance in a rural Fijian Village. \textit{PLOS ONE}. Public Library of Science, 2021, vol.~16, 10 October, p.~1-13. ISSN~1932-6203. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257160.

Detailed Information on Publication Record