Mistakes...I can make 'em

I guess we will just call last summer's data gathering a pre-test.  I found not one, but TWO mistakes.

Students from this past year's research methods class will recall that I adhered to the wording on the FAITH scale, in order to make it more comparable with the original authors, even though it was assuming a monotheist perspective.  This was okay except for one item which asked respondents if they used religious media (e.g. television, radio, magazines).  Or something like that. Given that it is 2017 (2016 when I first distributed it), this is even less relevant for Neo-Pagans.  There are no Neo-Pagan religion channels (like there are Christian networks); the major pagan magazines are mostly out of print.

What I should have done was included or substituted blogs, podcasts, and websites. Not only does this reflect the changing technology, but also something more germane to Neo-Pagan lifestyles. When I was present, if people asked what I meant, I made those kinds of suggestions, but that may bias the results.

So, in later printings, I will change that.  And obviously indicate which responses were in version 1 and version 2 of the survey.  It may be that there won't be a significant difference.  But you don't know unless you find out.

The second mistake was in the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religiosity scale. Basically extrinsic religiosity is participating in the religion because of what you can get from it, using religion as a 'tool.'  Intrinsic religiosity is about integrating religion into your entire personality and being; it is an end in and of itself, rather than a means to an end.

Anyway, there's a whole line of research in development of a scale to measure this, or more correctly two sub-scales.  The problem though, is that for some reason I can't even fathom, I only asked 12 of the 20 questions....I can't recall at all why I would have left off at least 7 of them (one makes sense, since it asks about weekly attendance, which isn't germane for most Neo-Pagan religions).

Duh.

So, in my first article I'll attempt to publish, I won't probably be focusing on that.  I'll fix it for Version 2 as well, but the Version 1 surveys just won't count in any research on that topic.

Oh well.....

Sources

I had all this checked out in June. The red thingy on the top is my Kindle (old school, I know); I saved all my journal articles by PDF so I could take it with me to various events.  Worked out pretty well too.

This is what a sabbatical looks like!

I checked all of them out at once, because I knew I'd have free time to read them quickly. Now that I'm back in the swing of things, with classes and the like, I won't be able to do that.  So, instead, I'm checking them out one a time.  I'll start with the Otterbein books first, and then the Ohio-Link ones...or alternate, who knows :) 

The Best Laid Plans . . .

When I last updated this blog, I had wrapped up one festival and was preparing for another.  I attended Wisteria's Summer Solstice celebration (Sunday through Thursday) and then came home to go to Comfest.

Soon after Comfest however, I was hospitalized under suspicion of Multiple Sclerosis.  It was a very scary time and a very long recovery with lots of rehabilitation (and new insight to the inner workings of our health insurance system).  Be that as it may, my sabbatical was suspended until Fall 2018. Research delayed, not research denied!

I did get some surveys completed, but I don't know how many.  I am starting the process of seeing where I am and if I can get a publishable result out of it. I did not do so well getting responses because it was a much larger event where I am not a well-known person.  There were also scant opportunities to "pimp" my research.  I got responses at Comfest (again I am not sure how many).

At Wisteria, I volunteered as a fire tender/builder and at first aid.  I'm attaching pictures below, so that you all can see.

This was the 'hearth' fire. I got it started every night. Ideally people in the community keep it going the whole time, but I always had to re-light it.

Communal campsite. I don't have a shot of my tent, but that is my awesome deluxe kitchen.

Giant Jenga. It took a while but eventually whenever anyone walked past, they removed and replaced a block. They even set it back up when there was no one there to see them knock it over!

Bonfire Build -- "Ladies Night" when all fire tenders scheduled were women. Although the men helped with the build, and did some tending that night as well. (Can't keep firetenders away from a good fire!)