American Religious Identification Survey

American Religious Identification Survey
Name	American Religious Identification Survey
Acronym	ARIS
Country	United States
Established	1990
Conducted by	Trinity College (1990), Graduate Center, City University of New York (2001)
Type	National telephone survey
Topics	Religious identification, affiliation, belief, practice

American Religious Identification Survey is a decennial national telephone survey series measuring religious affiliation, identity, and practice in the United States. Launched in 1990 and repeated in 2001 and later iterations by research institutions, the project produced widely cited estimates of denominational size, the rise of religious nones, and shifts among Protestant traditions, Catholicism, and other faiths. Major findings influenced scholarship at institutions such as Pew Research Center, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and policy discussions involving public officials like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Overview

The survey originated as a collaboration among social scientists at Trinity College and later involved researchers at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Early principal investigators included scholars affiliated with Harvard University, Yale University, and Columbia University. ARIS addressed questions similar to those in projects by the General Social Survey, Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, and historical compilations such as the U.S. Census-era religious tabulations. It estimated counts for groups including Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, Muslims, Hinduism, Buddhism, and respondents identifying as secular or none.

Methodology

ARIS employed random-digit-dialing telephone techniques common to late 20th-century surveys, drawing on sampling frames used by organizations like the American Association for Public Opinion Research and standards influenced by the National Science Foundation. Question wording distinguished self-identification from formal membership and attendance, mirroring measures in surveys by Robert Putnam and teams at Harvard Kennedy School. Weighting procedures adjusted for age, sex, race, and region with benchmarks from the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey asked about denominational preference, religious upbringing, frequency of worship attendance, and beliefs about God, salvation, and scripture, paralleling items used in studies at Princeton University and Duke University.

Findings and Trends

ARIS documented a marked increase in respondents reporting no religious affiliation—commonly referred to as religious "nones"—a trend that paralleled results from the General Social Survey and later corroborated by the Pew Research Center. The data showed decline among mainline Methodists, United Church of Christ adherents, and many mainline Protestants, alongside relative stability or growth among evangelical groups, Latter-day Saints, and immigrant-founded communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Geographic redistribution highlighted changes in the Sun Belt, the Rust Belt, and metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. Scholars at University of Notre Dame, Duke University, and University of California, Berkeley used ARIS to analyze links between secularization, political behavior, and civic participation.

Demographic and Geographic Breakdown

ARIS cross-tabulated affiliation by age cohorts (Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials), race and ethnicity groups including African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, and immigrant status traced to origin countries such as Mexico, India, China, and Philippines. Regional analyses used census divisions—Northeast, Midwest, South, West—and metropolitan statistical areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The survey revealed higher proportions of non-affiliation among younger cohorts and urban residents in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and Philadelphia, while showing persistent Religious identification in rural counties of states such as Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Criticism and Limitations

Methodological critiques cited coverage bias due to landline sampling amid rising cell-phone-only households, echoing concerns raised by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and analysts at Pew Research Center. Critics from institutions including University of Chicago and Stanford University noted limits in measuring intensity of belief, denominational switching, and the private religiosity captured by alternative instruments like in-depth interviews used at Princeton University. Other limitations involved undercounting immigrant congregations common to scholars at Rutgers University and University of Michigan, and classification disputes involving bodies such as United Methodist Church and Southern Baptist Convention.

Impact and Use in Research

ARIS shaped scholarship in sociology, political science, and religious studies at centers including Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Wake Forest University. Policymakers, think tanks like the Brookings Institution and American Enterprise Institute, and media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal cited ARIS figures in coverage of voting behavior, religious freedom debates, and demographic forecasting. Longitudinal comparisons with the Religious Landscape Study and the General Social Survey continue to inform research on secularization, immigration, and the changing American religious map.

Category:Surveys in the United States