Because Dr. Regnerus would not be interviewed, it is impossible to know his latest views about the relationship between his faith and research. But we can still ask if, in principle, belief in the divinity of Jesus could affect one\u2019s social science. Put another way: Is there a Christian way to crunch numbers?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe answer, in my personal opinion, is no,\u201d\u009d said Mark Chaves, a sociologist of religion at Duke Divinity School. But, he added, religious concerns \u201ccan very profoundly shape the kinds of questions we ask, and what we\u2019re interested in, what we think is important and so on.\u201d\u009d So while \u201cin the narrowest sense it doesn\u2019t affect his computations,\u201d\u009d Dr. Regnerus\u2019s Christian faith may have drawn him to questions about same-sex relationships and family structure.<\/p>\n
And a religious worldview, like any worldview, can dispose a researcher toward certain mistakes in thinking….<\/p>\n