Date of Award

4-1984

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. Paul Wienir

Second Advisor

Dr. Rudolf Siebert

Third Advisor

Dr. James Petersen

Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to examine the religiosity of Muslim students studying in the United States. Religiosity was viewed as a four-dimensional variable: belief dimension, ritual dimension, experiential dimension, and consequential dimension. In addition, a combined index of religiosity was created.

The five hypotheses tested were: (1) The higher the academic status of the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (2) There is an association between the religiosity of students and their major fields of study. (3) The more courses taken in social sciences by the student, the lower the religiosity of the student. (4) The longer the stay in the United States, the lower the religiosity of the student. (5) There is an association between the religiosity of the student and the sect or branch of Islam to which he/she belongs.

The data were gathered, via mailed questionnaires, from 275 students sampled from the population of 550 Muslim students attending Western Michigan University. The return rate was 182 questionnaires, which constituted 68.4 percent of the sample.

The data revealed that the four dimensions of religiosity were moderately related to each other and strongly related to the combined index of religiosity. The data also indicated that Muslim students were very high in their religiosity with regard to the four dimensions. The belief dimension proved to be the strongest of the four, and the ritual dimension was the weakest.

The first hypothesis was supported for the combined index of religiosity as well as for the experiential and consequential dimensions. It was rejected for the ritual and belief dimensions. The second, third, and fourth hypotheses were not supported for the combined index of religiosity, nor for the four dimensions when examined separately. Finally, the fifth hypothesis was rejected for the combined index of religiosity and for the ritual, experiential, and consequential dimensions. This hypothesis was only supported for the belief dimension.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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