During this past week of class, we were given the time to work on our final research projects. For my project I wanted to look at how an individual's religious affiliation affects their views on contraceptives and contraceptive use. I decided to use a survey as my method of data collection. This would allow me to get specific with the questions and not leave them very open ended so that my results and analysis can be interpreted easier. I would ask them questions such as "what is your affiliation?" "how often do you attend religious services?" "how often do you pray?" and also some questions concerning their viewpoints on many different types of contraceptives.
One thing I found difficult in my study was determining whether I should study the individuals' religiosity or their spirituality. As we discussed during the beginning of the semester, this can be very complicated to understand. An individual who is not religious may still consider themselves spiritual, thus altering the results. Due to the complications that may arise, I decided to study the views on contraceptive use strictly based on the individuals' religiosity and religious affiliation.
In the link that I posted, it shows that some people may even consider themselves both spiritual and religious. This is going to be something that I have to consider in my research. While it would not be directed in my study, I am curious to see the difference in views concerning contraceptive use for individuals who consider themselves spiritual versus individuals who consider themselves religious.
