Atheists and other secularists
who have a naturalistic worldview (a philosophy of life that does not
involve a belief in God, higher powers, or anything supernatural) have
been understudied by the social sciences.
The Center for Atheist Research
was founded to address this omission, and seeks to give individuals
across the religious/spiritual/secular spectrum the chance to contribute
their perspective on topics within the psychology and sociology of
atheism and secularity by participating in Internet-accessible academic research. Stay up to date on research participation opportunities with New Study Alerts.
Notice of Confidentiality: Participation
in any of the studies is completely voluntary, confidential, and
anonymous, and you may drop out of them at any time. These studies all
comply with university institutional review board and U.S. government
guidelines for the protection of human subjects and your online
privacy.
Please select from among the current research studies:
Military Spiritual Fitness Training
Study Coming Soon! U.S.
Military Personnel and Veterans of all backgrounds are eligible to
participate in this study. The Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program includes a training module designed to enhance military personnel's "spiritual fitness". This study investigates the perceived usefulness of this training. Participation will take around 10 to 25 minutes.
U.S. Military Personnel and Veterans of all backgrounds are eligible to participate in this study. The Army is measuring the "spiritual fitness" of troops with the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program's Global Assessment Tool. This study investigates the validity of this "spiritual fitness" Tool, and the secular/spiritual well-being of U.S. Military Personnel and Veterans. Participation will take around 15 to 35 minutes.
Individuals of all backgrounds who have not worked for the U.S. Military are eligible to
participate in this study. This study is a companion study to the Military Secular/Spiritual Well-Being study (see above). This study investigates the validity
of this "spiritual fitness" Tool as well as the secular/spiritual well-being
of civilians. Participation will take around 15 to 35 minutes.
Women who identify as nonreligious are eligible to participate in this study. The purpose of this study will be to investigate the health, psychological and social characteristics of women from nonreligious backgrounds. Participation will take less than 30 to 45 minutes.
The Atheist/Bright/Secular Humanist Experience
Data collection for this study now complete. Those who consider themselves atheists/brights/secular humanists were eligible to participate in this study. This study explored their experiences as secular individuals in a world populated by religious individuals who may not be comfortable with naturalistic worldviews.
Your Perspective On Those Who Do Not Believe
Data collection for this study is now complete. Those who consider themselves spiritual or religious were eligible to participate in this study. In this quick survey, participants had the opportunity to share their perspective on those who do not believe in a Higher Power.
A note regarding the limitations of quantitative survey research: Center surveys often ask forced-choice questions (e.g., "On a scale of 1 to 5...") to allow for more complex statistical analysis. However, the disadvantage of these types of questions is that nuance and context is much harder to capture. If you ever find yourself wanting to provide additional information beyond what a forced choice question will allow you to provide, please understand that we can relate to your frustration! However, all research approaches have strengths and weaknesses, and this is an inescapable limitation of the forced-choice approach. We thank you in advance for understanding!
