People :: Sociology Department

Mark A Chaves, Professor of Sociology, Religion, and Divinity

Mark A Chaves

Short Description of Research Approach:

Professor of Sociology, Religion, and Divinity

Office Info
Office:	248 Soc/Psych Bldg
Phone:	(919) 660-5783
Email Address:
Fax:	919-660-5623
Office hrs:

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Curriculum Vita

Areas of Interest:

sociology of religion,
sociology of organizations

Professor Chaves specializes in the sociology of religion. Most of his research is on the social organization of religion in the United States. Among other projects, he directs the National Congregations Study (NCS), a wide-ranging survey of a nationally representative sample of religious congregations. Results from the 1998 NCS have helped us to better understand many aspects of congregational life in the United States. Data collection for Wave II of the NCS recently has been completed. He also has studied conflicts over women's ordination, and he currently is examining recent trends in religious belief and practice in the United States.

Selected Publications/Recent Research:

Chaves, Mark, Congregations in America (2004), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Chaves, Mark, Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious Organizations (1997), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Stanley Presser and Mark Chaves, Is Religious Service Attendance Declining?, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 46 (2007), pp. 417-23.
Chaves, Mark, All Creatures Great and Small: Megachurches in Context., Review of Religious Research, vol. 47 (2006), pp. 329-346.
Anderson, Shawna L., Jessica Hamar Martinez, Catherine Hoegeman, Gary Adler, and Mark Chaves., Dearly Departed: How Often Do Congregations Close?” 47:321-328., Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 47 no. 2 (June, 2008), pp. 321-328.

(More Publications)

Course Descriptions

In fall 2008 Professor Chaves will teach "The Social Organization of American Religion." This is a graduate seminar based at the Divinity School and cross-listed with Religion. In spring 2009 he will teach a graduate seminar in the sociology of religion, cross-listed in Sociology and Religion.

Sociology
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