Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 5 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 95 minutes
These Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world A-Level Sociology revision notes examine what it means for religion to be significant today and how sociologists can investigate changing religious beliefs and practices. You will consider different definitions of religion, problems measuring religiosity, evidence of declining traditional participation and arguments that religion may instead be changing form through spirituality, private worship and online practice. This lesson brings together New Age movements [New Age movements] and social groups and religion [Social groups and religion], before the more detailed debate in secularisation [Secularisation].
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain what sociologists mean by religion and religiosity.
Distinguish religious belief, practice, affiliation and organisational participation.
Explain problems involved in defining religion.
Examine different ways religious belief and practice can be measured.
Analyse evidence that contemporary religion may be declining or changing form.
Evaluate different sociological interpretations of contemporary religiosity.
Revision Notes 📚
Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world A-Level Sociology revision overview
AQA requires students to understand “the significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world”, including secularisation in a global context and globalisation and the spread of religions.
This means the topic is wider than simply asking:
“Are people religious?”
Sociologists need to investigate several different questions:
What counts as religion?
What counts as religious belief?
Does someone have to practise religion to be religious?
Does someone need to belong to a religious organisation?
How can private religious practice be measured?
Is declining church participation evidence of declining religion?
Could traditional religion decline while spirituality continues?
Do patterns vary between social groups?
Has technology changed how people practise religion?
These questions matter because the answer you reach about contemporary religiosity partly depends on what you define and what you measure.
What is religion?
One of the difficulties in this topic is that there is no single definition of religion accepted by all sociologists.
AQA directly assessed this problem in 2022. Its item contrasted two broad approaches:
defining religion through belief in a higher power;
defining religion through the social role performed by the belief system.
These correspond to two important approaches to definition.
Substantive definitions of religion
A substantive definition focuses on what religion is.
AQA's 2022 item gives belief in a higher power as an example, while its mark scheme also accepts concepts such as supernatural force, sacred and profane.
A substantive approach therefore identifies particular characteristics that make a belief system religious.
A simple structure is:
belief system contains specified religious content → classified as religion
The advantage is that the definition can be relatively clear.
However, defining religion narrowly can create problems if forms of belief or spirituality do not fit the chosen characteristics.
Functional definitions of religion
A functional definition focuses on what religion does rather than only on the content of its beliefs.
AQA's 2022 item refers to defining religion through the social role the belief system plays. Its mark scheme recognises:
social functions;
psychological functions;
cognitive functions;
collective conscience;
civil religion;
ultimate questions.
The focus becomes:
belief system → performs particular role for individuals or society → may be treated sociologically as religious
For example, religion may:
create social solidarity;
provide psychological support;
help individuals make sense of difficult experiences;
provide answers to ultimate questions.
These functions connect directly with religion and social stability [Religion and social stability].
Substantive and functional definitions compared
Substantive definition | Functional definition |
Focuses on what religion is | Focuses on what religion does |
May emphasise belief in a higher power or supernatural force | May emphasise social, psychological or cognitive functions |
Can provide clearer boundaries | Can include a broader range of belief systems |
Risks excluding forms that do not fit a narrow definition | Risks becoming so inclusive that non-religious systems could perform similar functions |
This distinction is important because different definitions can produce different conclusions about how religious contemporary society is.
Inclusive and exclusive definitions
AQA's 2022 mark scheme identifies inclusive and exclusive definitions as relevant to debates about defining religion.
An exclusive definition uses relatively narrow criteria.
This may make classification easier, but it risks excluding forms of belief that do not fit those criteria.
An inclusive definition has wider boundaries.
This may capture a greater variety of religious and spiritual phenomena, but it may become harder to distinguish religion from other belief systems or social activities.
The problem can therefore be expressed as:
too narrow → genuine forms of religiosity may be excluded
but:
too broad → almost any belief system performing certain functions might be counted as religious
Western bias
AQA also identifies Western bias as a relevant problem in defining religion.
A definition constructed around one particular model of religion may not work equally well when analysing every religious tradition.
This links back to Christian and non-Christian religious traditions [Christian and non-Christian religious traditions].
A definition of religion should not simply assume that all religions:
have identical beliefs;
use identical forms of organisation;
involve the same practices;
understand religious authority in the same way.
This is another reason why sociologists must be cautious when comparing levels of religiosity.
Why definitions matter
Definitions are not just an abstract problem.
They affect measurement.
Suppose a researcher defines religion mainly through participation in traditional religious organisations.
A person who:
holds religious beliefs privately;
practises at home;
participates online;
engages in individual spirituality
may be counted as having low religiosity.
If religion is defined more broadly, the same individual might be classified differently.
Therefore:
definition → choice of indicator → measurement of religiosity → conclusion about religious change
This is one of the most important chains in the topic.
What is religiosity?
AQA requires the significance of religiosity but does not provide a single short definition of the term in the specification.
For revision purposes, it is useful to treat religiosity as the extent and ways in which religious belief and practice are significant in people's lives.
This can involve several different dimensions:
belief;
practice;
religious affiliation;
participation in religious organisations;
private religion;
spiritual belief;
the influence religion has over everyday life.
A key lesson is that these dimensions do not necessarily move together.
Someone may:
believe without regularly attending;
identify with a religion but practise rarely;
practise privately;
participate in spiritual activity without joining a traditional church.
Therefore, one measure alone may give an incomplete picture.
Religious belief
Religious belief concerns the beliefs or knowledge claims an individual accepts.
AQA's 2022 item makes an important point:
individuals may claim to hold religious beliefs, but their practice may be much more difficult to measure.
This means belief is partly subjective.
Researchers may ask people whether they:
identify as religious;
accept particular religious beliefs;
believe in a higher power.
However, self-reported belief creates difficulties.
A sociologist cannot simply observe a belief in the same way they might record attendance at an event.
Religious practice
Religious practice refers to behaviour through which religious or spiritual belief is expressed.
This may include participation in:
religious organisations;
ceremonies;
worship;
private religious activity;
online religious activity.
AQA's 2022 examiner report specifically recognised church attendance, private worship, online religion and televangelism as useful material when discussing the measurement of contemporary religion.
This shows why practice cannot automatically be reduced to church attendance.
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation refers to identifying or associating oneself with a religion.
AQA's 2021 secularisation mark scheme identifies religious affiliation alongside church attendance as relevant evidence.
Affiliation may therefore provide one indicator of religiosity.
However:
identifying with a religion ≠ necessarily practising it regularly
and:
participating in some religious practices ≠ necessarily holding every belief associated with a religious organisation
This distinction is central to contemporary debates.
Measuring religiosity
A sociologist could potentially examine contemporary religiosity through several indicators.
Indicator | What it may show | Possible limitation |
Religious affiliation | Whether someone identifies with a religious tradition | Identity does not necessarily show strength of belief or frequency of practice |
Attendance | Participation in organised religion | Misses private and online practice |
Religious ceremonies | Use of formal religious practices at significant life events | Does not automatically show the strength of personal belief |
Self-reported belief | What individuals say they believe | Belief is subjective and difficult to observe directly |
Private worship | Religious practice outside formal organisations | More difficult for researchers to observe |
Online religion | Religious activity mediated through technology | Traditional measures may fail to record it |
New Age participation | Forms of spirituality outside traditional churches | Raises questions about what should count as religion |
The key examination principle is:
No single measure captures every dimension of religiosity.
Church attendance
Church attendance is an obvious measure of organised religious participation.
AQA's 2021 examination item used falling church attendance as evidence in support of the view that religion was losing significance in the UK.
The basic argument is:
lower attendance → less participation in traditional religious organisations → evidence of declining institutional religiosity
However, this interpretation immediately faces evaluation.
Attendance measures attendance.
It does not automatically measure:
private belief;
private worship;
spirituality;
online religion.
A decline in attendance may therefore demonstrate declining organised religious participation more clearly than declining belief itself.
Religious ceremonies
AQA's 2021 item also uses smaller numbers of religious ceremonies such as weddings as an indicator in the secularisation debate.
This suggests another measure of religious practice:
declining use of religious ceremonies → reduced involvement of religion in important life events
However, the same distinction applies.
A decline in religious ceremonies does not prove that all religious or spiritual belief has disappeared.
Religious affiliation
Affiliation can provide evidence of whether individuals continue to identify with religious traditions.
It may be particularly useful because someone does not need to attend weekly worship to retain a religious identity.
However, affiliation itself may not reveal:
intensity of belief;
frequency of worship;
impact on everyday behaviour.
This demonstrates the need to use multiple indicators.
Belief and practice may not match
One of the most important ideas in this lesson is that religious belief and practice may diverge.
AQA explicitly recognises belief without belonging in its 2020, 2021 and 2022 marking material.
Belief without belonging describes a situation in which religious belief continues even though regular participation in traditional religious organisations is weaker.
The pattern is:
traditional participation declines
but:
personal religious belief continues
This provides a major challenge to the idea that attendance data alone can measure religious decline.
Why belief without belonging matters
Imagine traditional church attendance declines.
There are at least two interpretations.
Interpretation 1: religion is declining
Fewer participants suggest religion has less influence.
Interpretation 2: religion is changing
People may continue to believe while practising privately or less formally.
Therefore:
decline of belonging does not necessarily equal decline of belief
This distinction becomes central in secularisation [Secularisation].
Private worship
The June 2022 examiner report identifies private worship as one of the relevant areas students successfully used when discussing definitions and measurement.
Private worship creates a practical measurement problem.
Traditional indicators often rely on things that are relatively visible:
membership;
attendance;
ceremonies.
Private practice is less visible.
Therefore:
more private religiosity → traditional participation measures record less activity → researchers may underestimate some forms of religious practice
This is an important explanation for why contemporary religiosity is difficult to measure.
Online religion
The same examiner report identifies online religion as useful evidence.
Religious practice through digital technology may not be captured by traditional measures of physical attendance.
This creates a broader sociological point:
technology can change the form of religious practice without necessarily eliminating practice itself.
A person may interact with religion differently from someone participating through a traditional organisation.
The growth of new forms of interaction therefore complicates direct comparisons between older and newer patterns of religiosity.
Televangelism
AQA's examiner report also identifies televangelism as relevant to the measurement debate, while its 2021 and 2024 mark schemes accept televangelism and related technologically mediated forms of religion as relevant concepts.
The wider point is not to memorise a technology list.
It is to understand the changing relationship:
religious practice + media technology → participation outside traditional local organisations
This may make contemporary religion:
less institutionally visible;
less tied to one physical place;
harder to measure using attendance alone.
This connects with globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions].
New Age movements and contemporary religiosity
AQA's 2022 examiner report specifically notes that students successfully used New Age movements when discussing contemporary definitions and measurement.
This makes sense because New Age movements may involve:
self-spirituality;
individualised belief;
personal experience;
less formal organisation;
less dependence on traditional religious hierarchy.
These characteristics were examined in New Age movements [New Age movements].
Their existence creates a definitional problem:
If a researcher only counts traditional religious participation, where does individualised spirituality fit?
New Age movements therefore provide evidence in two debates:
how religion should be defined;
whether contemporary religion is declining or changing.
Spirituality
AQA repeatedly identifies spirituality as relevant to contemporary religion and secularisation debates.
AQA's 2020 mark scheme specifically recognises the possibility that religious belief may be changing to a more spiritual focus.
This gives an important contemporary pattern:
traditional organisational participation declines → individual spirituality may continue or grow in significance
Again, two interpretations are possible.
Changing-form interpretation: religion is adapting.
Secularisation interpretation: traditional religion and collective authority are still weakening.
Both can use the same evidence but interpret its significance differently.
Religion changing rather than declining
AQA's 2021 examination item explicitly sets up this debate.
It states that some sociologists see declining religious beliefs and organisations, while others argue that religion only appears to be losing importance because people's interaction with religion is changing over time.
This is one of the key debates for this lesson.
Evidence that religion may be changing includes:
belief without belonging;
private worship;
online religion;
spirituality;
New Age movements;
changing interaction with religious organisations.
This creates a model of contemporary religiosity that is:
more private;
more individualised;
less dependent on traditional organisations;
potentially mediated through new technology.
Traditional religion versus changing religion
Traditional indicator | Changing form of religiosity |
Attendance at established religious organisations | Private or individual practice |
Formal membership | Belief without regular belonging |
Traditional ceremonies | Less formal spiritual practices |
Hierarchical religious organisation | Individualised spirituality |
Physical religious participation | Online or mediated religious practice |
The table does not mean one side has completely replaced the other.
Rather, contemporary society may contain both.
Privatisation of religion
AQA's 2024 mark scheme identifies privatisation of religion, explaining that religious belief may become a personal choice rather than an obligation.
This is highly relevant to contemporary religiosity.
The process is:
religious authority becomes less socially compulsory → religion becomes increasingly personal → public participation may weaken even where individual belief remains
Privatisation therefore helps explain why:
institutional measures may decline;
religion may become less visible;
personal belief can continue.
However, privatisation can be interpreted in different ways.
Interpretation 1: changing religion
Religion survives but increasingly operates in the private sphere.
Interpretation 2: weakened religion
If religion becomes merely an individual choice rather than a wider social obligation, its power over society may have declined.
This is good evaluative material.
Individualism
AQA also identifies the rise of individualism as potentially contributing to the decline of practising religious communities.
Individualism can therefore have two related consequences:
greater personal choice → individual spirituality
but also:
greater personal choice → weaker collective religious obligation
This explains why the growth of individualised belief should not automatically be treated as evidence either for or against secularisation.
It can support both interpretations depending on what aspect of religion is being measured.
Evidence suggesting declining traditional religiosity
AQA assessment material identifies several kinds of evidence that may support the view that traditional religion is becoming less significant.
These include:
church attendance;
religious affiliation;
religious ceremonies;
declining practising religious communities;
younger generations favouring secular worldviews;
increased exposure to secular perspectives;
technological and rational explanations replacing some religious explanations.
These processes provide support for secularisation, which AQA defines in the 2021 item as the declining importance of religion.
However, this lesson focuses on how such evidence should be interpreted, rather than completing the full secularisation debate.
Changing traditional religious authority
Evidence of decline may show that traditional organisations have less influence.
For example:
less attendance → weaker institutional participation
fewer traditional ceremonies → religion less involved in some life events
greater individualism → weaker collective religious obligation
This can indicate reduced religious authority even if some private belief survives.
Therefore, one useful distinction is:
religion as personal belief
versus
religion as a powerful social institution
A society could experience decline in the second without complete disappearance of the first.
Evidence that religion remains significant
AQA material also provides reasons why religion may continue to have substantial influence.
The 2023 item states that religion:
claims to provide answers to life's ultimate questions;
can provide support during periods of change.
Its mark scheme recognises religious rituals and rites of passage as ways religion may help people cope.
This suggests that contemporary religion may remain important where it provides:
meaning;
psychological support;
ritual;
identity;
community.
These are forms of significance that cannot be measured solely through national attendance patterns.
Ultimate questions
Ultimate questions concern fundamental issues of existence, meaning, suffering and human experience.
AQA's 2023 material recognises that religious answers may remain influential because scientific explanations may be less comforting for some people.
This connects back to science and religion [Science and religion].
The contemporary significance of religion therefore depends not simply on whether people attend formal organisations but also on whether religious beliefs continue to provide meaning.
Support during change
Religious rituals may provide support during:
significant transitions;
uncertainty;
difficult experiences.
This can keep religion significant even in societies in which traditional organisational participation changes.
The implication is:
institutional decline does not necessarily demonstrate decline in every religious function
This distinction is important in evaluation.
Social groups and contemporary religiosity
Religiosity is not distributed evenly between all social groups.
AQA's 2025 examination identifies several possible patterns connected to secularisation:
younger generations may favour secular worldviews;
women may transmit religious norms and values to children;
urban populations may encounter more diverse and secular perspectives;
some ethnic groups experiencing hostility may use religion as cultural defence.
This means the question:
“Is religion declining?”
may be too general.
A more precise question is:
Among which groups, in which forms and in which social contexts is religion becoming more or less significant?
This develops the material from social groups and religion [Social groups and religion].
Age and contemporary religiosity
AQA's 2025 marking material suggests younger generations may favour secular worldviews, leading to reduced religious adherence and participation.
This could support an interpretation of declining religiosity.
However, it should not be turned into a claim that every young person is non-religious.
The correct sociological language is about group tendencies, not universal rules.
Ethnicity and contemporary religiosity
The picture may differ for some minority ethnic groups.
AQA's 2023 item recognises:
cultural defence;
cultural transition;
continued importance of religion among some minority ethnic groups;
the alternative argument that religion has declined in importance for many groups.
Contemporary religiosity is therefore uneven.
Religion may weaken in some contexts while becoming especially significant as a source of identity in others.
Globalisation and contemporary religiosity
Globalisation adds another layer of complexity.
AQA's 2024 paper describes globalisation as involving technological and cultural changes and states that postmodernists suggest it has changed how people interact with religious organisations while allowing new types of beliefs to emerge. The same item also recognises fundamentalism and declining religious belief as alternative outcomes.
This means globalisation may be connected with:
new religious beliefs;
changing organisational participation;
technologically mediated religion;
increased spirituality;
religious fundamentalism;
secularisation.
There is no single inevitable effect.
This will be examined fully in globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions].
New media and religious diversity
AQA's 2023 mark scheme states that new media can expose people to other beliefs and views, potentially challenging existing religious solidarity.
Technology can therefore work in different directions.
It may:
weaken established religious authority
by increasing access to alternative beliefs,
but it may also:
create new ways of practising or communicating religion
through online religion and other mediated forms.
Again, contemporary religion may involve simultaneous decline and innovation.
Religious diversity
AQA identifies religious diversity as relevant in secularisation and globalisation debates.
Greater diversity means individuals may encounter a wider range of:
religions;
spiritualities;
secular worldviews.
One interpretation is that diversity weakens the credibility or dominance of one traditional religious worldview.
Another possibility is that diversity gives people more religious or spiritual options.
AQA's 2020 mark scheme recognises the idea that diversity of beliefs and practices can be linked to continued high levels of religion in some contexts, while also allowing evaluation that diversity does not necessarily increase religiosity.
Therefore:
more religious choice does not automatically mean either more or less religion.
Contemporary belief may become more individualised
Several AQA-supported concepts point towards increasingly individualised belief:
belief without belonging;
spirituality;
privatisation;
individualism;
New Age movements;
spiritual shopping.
The securely supported general interpretation is that religion may become less dependent on traditional organisations and more connected to personal choice.
The process is:
declining obligation → greater personal choice → more individualised belief and practice
This can alter both what religiosity looks like and how it should be measured.
Spiritual shopping
AQA lists spiritual shopping as relevant to secularisation and globalisation debates.
For this lesson, it is sufficient to recognise that AQA accepts it within debates about changing contemporary spirituality and individual choice.
Vicarious religion
AQA also identifies vicarious religion as a relevant concept in both the 2021 secularisation mark scheme and the 2022 definition and measurement question.
The important source-supported point is that AQA recognises it as relevant when evaluating whether conventional measures underestimate contemporary religiosity.
Is contemporary religion declining?
There is evidence within the AQA material that supports this interpretation.
Possible indicators include:
reduced traditional organisational participation;
declining use of religious ceremonies;
weakening practising religious communities;
secular values among some younger groups;
individualism;
greater secular and technological worldviews.
The argument is:
religious belief, organisation or practice becomes less influential → religiosity declines
This interpretation becomes the focus of secularisation [Secularisation].
Or is religion changing?
The alternative interpretation emphasises:
belief without belonging;
private worship;
online religion;
spirituality;
New Age movements;
greater individual choice;
changing ways of interacting with religion.
The argument becomes:
traditional religion changes → old indicators record decline → new forms of religious or spiritual activity continue
Under this interpretation, the key mistake is equating:
traditional institutional religion
with
all religiosity.
Can both interpretations be true?
Yes.
This is arguably the most useful evaluative insight for this lesson.
Religion could simultaneously become:
less institutional;
less collectively obligatory;
less connected to traditional organisations;
while becoming:
more private;
more individualised;
more spiritual;
more technologically mediated.
Therefore, the statement:
“Religion is changing rather than declining”
may itself be too simple.
Some dimensions may be changing and declining at the same time.
Measuring belief versus measuring influence
Another distinction is between measuring religious activity and measuring the wider significance of religion.
For example, a person may attend rarely but religious beliefs could still influence:
identity;
interpretation of major life events;
moral beliefs;
responses to uncertainty.
Conversely, participation in a religious ceremony does not automatically prove that religion strongly influences every aspect of the person's life.
Therefore:
frequency of religious practice ≠ automatically strength of religious influence
This is one reason AQA's specification uses the broader idea of the significance of religion and religiosity.
The problem of self-report
AQA's 2022 item explicitly identifies the difficulty created when people claim to hold religious beliefs while their practice is difficult to measure.
This creates two questions.
Can researchers trust what individuals say about belief?
Belief is subjective and cannot always be independently observed.
Can researchers infer belief from behaviour?
Not necessarily.
Low visible participation does not prove absence of belief.
Therefore, researchers face a tension:
self-report captures private belief but depends on what people say
while:
behavioural measures are more observable but may miss private religiosity
This is a strong evaluation point.
Bogus baptisms and the attendance gap
AQA's 2022 mark scheme identifies bogus baptisms and the attendance gap as relevant concepts in the measurement debate.
Their inclusion in the mark scheme nevertheless demonstrates that AQA expects students to recognise that religious statistics and claimed religious behaviour may create measurement problems.
Contemporary religiosity as multidimensional
A useful way to organise this lesson is to think of contemporary religiosity as having several dimensions.
Dimension | Question sociologists might ask |
Belief | What religious or spiritual ideas do people accept? |
Affiliation | Do people identify with a religious tradition? |
Practice | How do people express religious belief? |
Organisation | Do people participate in churches, denominations, sects or other groups? |
Private religion | Does religious practice take place outside formal organisations? |
Spirituality | Do people hold spiritual beliefs without traditional institutional religion? |
Social significance | How much influence does religion have over identity, values or society? |
The central revision rule is:
Never assume that evidence from one dimension automatically tells you what is happening to all the others.
Different interpretations of contemporary religiosity
Interpretation 1: traditional religion is declining
Evidence includes weakening attendance, affiliation and traditional ceremonies.
This supports secularisation.
Strength: focuses on observable institutional changes.
Limitation: may overlook private, individualised or spiritual belief.
Interpretation 2: belief is becoming individualised
Belief without belonging, privatisation and spirituality suggest religion may increasingly operate outside traditional organisations.
Strength: explains why institutional decline may coexist with personal belief.
Limitation: continuing private belief does not necessarily demonstrate that religion retains the same wider social influence.
Interpretation 3: contemporary religion is diversifying
New Age movements, different spiritual beliefs and global religious change show increasing diversity.
Strength: recognises that traditional church religion is not the only form of religiosity.
Limitation: religious diversity could also undermine the authority of any single tradition.
Interpretation 4: religiosity varies between social groups
Religion may remain more significant for some groups while weakening among others.
Strength: avoids treating society as religiously uniform.
Limitation: social groups are themselves internally diverse.
Interpretation 5: the apparent trend depends partly on measurement
Different definitions and indicators can produce different conclusions.
Strength: highlights methodological problems.
Limitation: measurement problems do not mean that genuine religious change is not occurring.
Evaluating whether religion is changing or declining
A strong evaluation should separate at least four questions.
1. Are religious organisations declining?
Attendance or traditional organisational participation may provide evidence.
2. Are religious beliefs declining?
This is harder to establish because belief may be private.
3. Are religious practices changing?
Private worship, online religion and spirituality suggest they may be.
4. Is religion's social influence declining?
This is broader still and requires considering religion's effect on individuals, groups and society.
A weak conclusion treats all four as identical.
A strong conclusion explains that they may move in different directions.
Why the next lessons matter
This lesson provides the conceptual groundwork for the remaining Beliefs in Society content.
In secularisation [Secularisation], you will examine the evidence and explanations for religious decline in greater depth.
In secularisation in a global context [Secularisation in a global context], you will consider whether patterns found in one society can be applied globally.
In globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions], you will examine how technological and cultural interconnectedness can reshape religious belief and practice.
The key foundation from this lesson is:
Before deciding whether religion is declining, you need to decide what religion is and how religiosity should be measured.
A balanced sociological judgement
The AQA source material does not support a simple picture in which contemporary religion has either disappeared or remained completely unchanged.
There is evidence of:
declining traditional participation;
weakening organisational religion;
individualism and privatisation;
but also:
continued religious belief;
belief without belonging;
private worship;
online religion;
New Age spirituality;
continuing religious significance for particular social groups;
religion providing meaning and support.
A balanced conclusion is therefore:
Contemporary religiosity is multidimensional. Traditional organisational religion may decline while some religious beliefs, private practices and spiritual forms continue or change. Conclusions about the significance of religion therefore depend partly on which dimensions of religiosity are being examined and how they are defined and measured.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Religiosity | The extent and ways in which religious belief and practice are significant in people's lives. | Use when distinguishing different dimensions of contemporary religion. |
Substantive definition | A definition focusing on what religion is, such as belief in a higher power. | Explain problems created by narrow definitions of religion. |
Functional definition | A definition focusing on the social or individual roles performed by religion. | Contrast with substantive definitions and discuss inclusiveness. |
Religious affiliation | Identification or association with a religious tradition. | Use as one possible measure of religiosity, while recognising its limitations. |
Religious practice | Behaviour through which religious or spiritual belief is expressed. | Discuss attendance, ceremonies, private worship or online religion. |
Belief without belonging | Continuing religious belief without regular participation in traditional religious organisations. | Challenge the idea that declining attendance proves declining belief. |
Privatisation | The movement of religion towards personal choice rather than wider social obligation. | Explain changing forms of contemporary religiosity. |
Spirituality | Spiritual belief or experience that may not depend on traditional religious organisations. | Use when evaluating whether religion is changing rather than disappearing. |
Secularisation | The declining importance of religion. | Compare evidence of decline with changing forms of belief and practice. |
Individualism | Greater emphasis on individual choice and personal autonomy. | Explain both individualised spirituality and weaker practising religious communities. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
The June 2022 examiner report is especially valuable because AQA directly examined the problems of defining and measuring religious belief and practice.
Examiner hint: Successful answers used a broad range of relevant evidence rather than treating church attendance as the only measure of religion. The report highlights church attendance, belief without belonging, private worship, online religion, televangelism, New Religious Movements and New Age movements as material used in thoughtful responses.
This gives you a clear revision strategy.
When asked about religiosity, think:
belief + practice + organisation + private religion + changing forms
not simply:
church attendance.
Examiner hint: Keep definition and measurement separate. AQA's 2022 question required students to evaluate problems with both, so a good answer needs to explain why deciding what counts as religion is different from deciding how to measure it.
A useful essay structure is:
problems defining religion;
problems measuring belief;
problems measuring practice;
changing forms of religiosity;
consequences for secularisation debates.
Examiner hint: The 2022 report describes several answers as thoughtful because they applied contemporary forms such as private worship and online religion to the measurement debate.
Do not simply name online religion.
Explain the implication:
Traditional attendance measures may record declining participation even though religious practice has moved into a different setting.
Examiner hint: Stay focused on the relationship in the question. Elsewhere in the same Beliefs section, the 2022 report notes that students sometimes drifted into general discussion rather than applying material to the exact issue being asked.
For this topic, that means avoiding a general essay on secularisation if the question specifically asks about measurement, religious belief or religious practice.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating religiosity as church attendance
Why this is incorrect: Attendance measures only one form of religious practice. AQA recognises belief without belonging, private worship, online religion and spirituality.
How to improve: Use several dimensions:
belief + affiliation + practice + organisation + private spirituality
Mistake: Assuming belief and practice are identical
Why this is incorrect: AQA's 2022 item explicitly distinguishes individuals claiming religious belief from the difficulty of measuring how those beliefs are practised.
How to improve:
Ask separately:
What does the person believe?
What do they do?
Do they belong to an organisation?
Mistake: Saying lower church attendance proves that nobody believes
Why this is incorrect: Belief without belonging provides a direct challenge to this conclusion.
How to improve: Write:
“Declining attendance provides stronger evidence of declining institutional participation than of the complete disappearance of religious belief.”
Mistake: Assuming private religion cannot be significant
Why this is incorrect: The examiner report explicitly recognises private worship and online religion as relevant to contemporary measurement.
How to improve: Explain how less visible forms of practice may make traditional measures incomplete.
Mistake: Treating every spiritual activity as automatically religious
Why this is incorrect: The 2022 question demonstrates that defining religion itself is contested.
How to improve: Explain which definition you are using and consider whether it is inclusive or exclusive.
Mistake: Giving a definition without evaluating it
Why this is incorrect: A 20-mark question on defining religion requires analysis of why definitions create problems.
How to improve:
For every definition ask:
What does it include?
What might it exclude?
Is it too broad?
Could it contain cultural or Western bias?
Mistake: Treating changing religion and declining religion as mutually exclusive
Why this is incorrect: Traditional institutional religion may decline while private or individualised beliefs change form.
How to improve: Distinguish the dimension being discussed.
Mistake: Assuming religiosity changes in the same way for every social group
Why this is incorrect: AQA assessment material identifies different patterns by age, ethnicity, gender and other social characteristics.
How to improve: Use social groups and religion [Social groups and religion] to qualify broad claims.
Mistake: Turning the lesson into a complete secularisation essay
Why this is incorrect: The focus here is the significance and changing forms of religion and religiosity, including how they are defined and measured.
How to improve: Save the detailed causes and extent of secularisation for secularisation [Secularisation].
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Define the term religiosity.[2 marks]
2. Explain one difference between a substantive and a functional definition of religion.[4 marks]
3. Explain one problem with using attendance at religious organisations as a measure of religiosity.[4 marks]
4. Outline and explain two ways in which religious practice may be changing in contemporary society.[10 marks]
5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Some researchers measure religion by asking whether people attend religious organisations. However, individuals may continue to hold religious beliefs privately or practise their religion outside traditional organisations.
Measuring contemporary religiosity can therefore be difficult.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two problems sociologists may face when measuring religiosity.[10 marks]
6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
Participation in traditional religious organisations may become less common, while individuals continue to develop spiritual beliefs and use new ways of practising religion. Religion may therefore be becoming more individualised.
Applying material from Item B, analyse two reasons why declining traditional religious participation may not demonstrate the disappearance of religion.[10 marks]
7. Read Item C and answer the question that follows.
Item C
Religion has different levels of significance among different groups. Some younger people may favour secular beliefs, while religion may remain important as a source of identity for groups experiencing migration or hostility.
Applying material from Item C, analyse two reasons why contemporary religiosity may differ between social groups.[10 marks]
8. Read Item D and answer the question that follows.
Item D
Some definitions of religion focus on belief in a higher power. Others define religion through the social or psychological role performed by a belief system. Different definitions may lead researchers to reach different conclusions about how religious contemporary society is.
Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate the problems sociologists face when defining and measuring contemporary religiosity.[20 marks]
9. Read Item E and answer the question that follows.
Item E
Traditional forms of religious participation may be losing significance. However, religious belief can become private, individualised or spiritual, while technology provides new ways of interacting with religion.
Applying material from Item E and your knowledge, evaluate the view that religion in contemporary society is changing rather than declining.[20 marks]
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
Religiosity refers to the extent and ways in which religious belief and practice are significant in people's lives.
Award credit for recognition of:
religion;
the extent or significance of belief and/or practice.
Question 2
A possible answer:
A substantive definition identifies religion through the content of religious beliefs, such as belief in a higher power. A functional definition instead defines religion through what the belief system does, such as performing a social or psychological role.
A developed response should make the contrast explicit:
content of belief
versus
function performed.
Question 3
A possible answer:
Attendance measures participation in organised religion but may fail to record private religious belief or practice. A person could hold religious beliefs or worship privately without regularly attending a religious organisation, so attendance alone may underestimate some forms of religiosity.
Credit should be given for:
attendance indicator → form of religion missed → measurement problem
Question 4
Two developed ways are required.
Possible material includes:
Private worship: Religion may become less dependent on visible participation in traditional organisations. This makes religious practice more difficult to measure through attendance.
Online religion: Technology may allow religious participation to take place outside physical religious organisations, changing how individuals interact with religion.
Individualised spirituality: Religious or spiritual practice may increasingly centre on personal choice rather than formal organisational membership.
New Age movements: More fluid and individualised forms of spirituality may coexist with declining participation in traditional organisations.
Students should explain a change in practice, rather than merely naming a form of religion.
Question 5
Two developed item applications are required.
First problem: belief without attendance
Use the reference to individuals holding beliefs privately. Attendance figures cannot establish whether people who no longer participate in formal organisations have also stopped believing.
The chain is:
low attendance → apparent decline → private belief remains unrecorded → religiosity may be underestimated
Second problem: practice outside organisations
Use the reference to practising outside traditional organisations. Private worship or online religion may not appear in statistics based on physical attendance.
The chain is:
changing practice → traditional indicator fails to record it → incomplete measurement
Strong responses should distinguish belief from practice.
Question 6
Two developed reasons are required.
First reason: belief without belonging
Use the reference to continuing spiritual belief. Individuals may retain religious beliefs even where regular participation in established organisations declines.
Therefore:
institutional decline ≠ necessarily disappearance of belief
Second reason: changing forms of practice
Use the reference to new ways of practising religion. Private worship, online religion or individualised spirituality may replace or supplement traditional participation.
Therefore:
traditional participation falls → religious practice changes form → attendance statistics may exaggerate overall religious decline
A strong answer should still recognise that changing form does not prove traditional religious authority remains equally powerful.
Question 7
Two social-group relationships should be analysed.
First reason: age
Use the reference to younger people favouring secular beliefs. AQA recognises that younger generations may favour secular worldviews, reducing adherence and participation.
Second reason: ethnicity and cultural defence
Use the reference to migration or hostility. Religion may become particularly important for some minority ethnic groups because it provides cultural defence, identity and solidarity.
The question requires an explanation of why religiosity differs between groups, not merely identification of two patterns.
Question 8
Indicative content may include:
Problems defining religion:
substantive definitions;
belief in a higher power;
supernatural force;
functional definitions;
social function;
psychological function;
cognitive function;
inclusive versus exclusive definitions;
Western bias;
difficulty deciding what should count as religion;
functional alternatives.
Problems measuring belief:
belief is subjective;
self-reported belief may not match observable practice;
belief without belonging;
affiliation does not necessarily indicate intensity of belief.
Problems measuring practice:
attendance captures only formal participation;
private worship;
online religion;
changing forms of religious interaction;
New Age movements;
spirituality;
religious ceremonies;
changing organisational participation.
Evaluation:
different indicators measure different dimensions;
combining indicators may provide a fuller picture;
measurement difficulties do not mean genuine religious decline is absent;
broader definitions may capture more spirituality but become too inclusive;
narrow definitions may underestimate diverse or changing forms of religion;
the outcome of secularisation debates partly depends on what is measured.
A strong conclusion might argue that the most serious problem is treating religion as a single measurable phenomenon. Belief, affiliation, practice and social significance can change independently. Sociologists therefore need clarity over their definition and should avoid using one indicator, particularly attendance, as if it measures every dimension of religiosity.
Question 9
Indicative content may include:
Arguments that religion is changing:
belief without belonging;
private worship;
online religion;
spirituality;
New Age movements;
privatisation;
individualism;
changing interaction with religious organisations;
technologically mediated religion;
religion retaining psychological or cognitive significance;
differing patterns between social groups.
Arguments that religion is declining:
reduced traditional participation;
declining significance of established organisations;
reduced use of some religious ceremonies;
declining practising religious communities;
individualism weakening collective religious obligation;
secular worldviews;
weakening traditional authority.
Evaluation:
institutional religion and personal belief should be distinguished;
continued private belief does not necessarily mean religion has the same social power;
declining attendance may underestimate changing religious practice;
spirituality may itself reflect declining traditional religious authority;
different social groups may experience religious change differently;
religion can change form while some dimensions simultaneously decline.
A strong judgement should challenge the assumption that change and decline are complete opposites.
The most convincing conclusion is that contemporary religiosity can involve both. Traditional organisational religion may decline while religious belief becomes more private, individualised or spiritual. Whether this is interpreted primarily as religious decline or transformation depends on whether the focus is institutional authority, participation, personal belief or the wider social significance of religion.
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