Greetings!

We are two graduate students in the Harvard Department of Government writing to ask for your help with a research project. We hope you will promote our survey about the intersection of theology and politics among your congregation’s parishioners, staff, and volunteers.

We are especially interested in hearing about the attitudes of faithful church-goers in America toward political issues like immigration and gun control. That’s why we are reaching out to clergy and parish administrators whose email addresses we could find online.

Our study offers a range of open-ended questions about how people think about their theology and its intersection with issues such as racism. We hope to hear what believers in America think in their own words, so that we can help improve the survey research questions academics use to learn about religion, which can sometimes be at odds with how believers really think about their faith. Researchers often neglect the perspectives of the religious in their study of politics.

We hope you and your congregation will take the survey available here: 
https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zrHgibMahCCbcx?Q_CHL=email?Source=un2301928361

Our study is housed on the website of the Harvard Digital Lab for the Social Sciences (DLABSS). DLABSS is an online laboratory of volunteers launched in 2014 to help researchers locate respondents for their social science surveys. If you enjoy participating in that study, there are many more at  dlabss.harvard.edu, in which you are welcome to participate.

We would also be very grateful if you could forward this opportunity to your congregation’s email list.
For a member who has an email address, an interest in scientific research, and some spare time, this study could be a fun and interesting way to broaden horizons, give back, and get involved with academic research. We hope that you’ll help us increase the representation of religious individuals in academic studies!

If you have any questions or if additional information would be helpful, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Thank you very much for your time!

All the best,

Amy Lakeman & Gabrielle Malina
PhD Candidates, Harvard Department of Government