Jibum Kim, Sungkyunkwan University Measuring religion in South Korea: the Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) Jibum Kim, Sungkyunkwan University
Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) Korean Version of the US GSS 2003-2014, 2016 Cross-sectional survey of adults Data Collection Mode: Face-to-face interview using PAPI Response rate: 60% in early 2000s 47% in 2016 Interviewers: 37 university students (400) June to October
KGSS Religious Items: 2003-2004 vs. 2005-2016 2003-2004: 28.What is your religion? ① Buddhist ③ Catholic ② Protestant ④ No religion (GO TO Q29) (5) OTHER (SPECIFY_______________) (IF YOU HAVE A RELIGION) 28.1. How often do you attend religious services? (1) A few times a week (5) Several times a year (2) Once a week (6) Once a year (3) Two or three times a month (7) Less than once a year (4) Once a month (8) Never (88)DON’T KNOW 28.2. Do you call yourself a strong, or not a very strong follower of your religion? ① Strong ③ Not very strong ② Somewhat strong (8) DON’T KNOW 2005- 2016: 36. How often do you attend religious services? (01) A few times a week (06) Once a year (02) Once a week (07) Less than once a year (03) Two or three times a month (08) NEVER (04) Once a month (88) DON’T KNOW (05) Several times a year 37. What is your religion? ① Buddhist ④ No religion (GO TO Q38) ② Protestant (77) OTHER (SPECIFY: ) ③ Catholic 37.1. (IF YOU HAVE A RELIGION) Do you call yourself a strong, or not a very strong follower of your religion? ① Strong ③ Not very strong ② Somewhat strong (8) DON’T KNOW
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Religion Questions by Several Data Sets 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Census SSS WVS Korean Gallup KGSS
% of Religious Affiliation, 2003-2016 KGSS
RELIGIOUS SERVICE ATTENDANCE
Trend of religious service attendance at least once a week among Religious Group, 2003-2016 KGSS
Religious Service Attendance, 2016 KGSS 67% 42% 7%
Strength of Religious Affiliation
Trend of Strength of Religious Affiliation (% Strong), 2003-2016 KGSS
Strength of Religious Affiliation, 2016 KGSS
% of Church Attendance at Least Once a Week and Strength of Religious Affiliation (% strong) among Protestants and Catholics in US and Korea, 2016 GSS and 2016 KGSS
RELIGIOUS GROUP vs. CONFUCIANISM
“(Regardless of your religious affiliation) do you consider yourself a Confucian?” (% of YES by religious group, 2016 KGSS)
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