Roger Finke is a Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at

The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

and Director of the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making th ...

. He is a former president of the

Association for the Sociology of Religion The Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR) is an academic association with more than 700 members worldwide. It publishes a journal, '' Sociology of Religion'', and holds meetings at the same venues and times as the American Sociological A ...

Career

Roger Finke earned his doctorate in sociology at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1984, and held faculty positions at Concordia College in Illinois, Loyola University of Chicago, and Purdue University before joining the faculty at

in 2000.

Publications

Professor Finke co-authored two books with sociologist of religion

Rodney Stark Rodney William Stark (July 8, 1934 — July 21, 2022) was an American sociologist of religion who was a longtime professor of sociology and of comparative religion at the University of Washington. At the time of his death he was the Distinguished ...

. ''The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy'' received the 1993 Distinguished Book Award from the

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (founded in 1949) was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences. The ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'' is published by ...

. ''Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion'' received the 2001 Book Award from the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

's Sociology of Religion Section. These books extended what is often called the New Paradigm or the

Rational Choice Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour. The theory originated in the eighteenth century and can be traced back to political economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. The theory postula ...

theoretical perspective, conceptualizing denominations as competitors in a religious market. ''The Churching of America'' was methodologically noteworthy for demonstrating the utility of quantitative historical data on church membership. Additionally, Finke is the co-author of ''The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-first Century'' and ''Places of Faith: A Road Trip Across America's Religious Landscape''. He is author or co-author of numerous peer-reviewed articles appearing in edited volumes and journals such as ''American Sociological Review'', ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion'', ''Review of Religious Research'', ''Social Science Research'', and ''The Sociological Quarterly''. In November 2015, Finke and fellow Pennsylvania State University professor Dane Mataic published a report entitled "Exploring the Trends and Consequences of Religious Registration: A Global Overview." In this report, Finke and Mataic outlined a "significant increase" (from 13% to 18%) in countries that required religious registration around the world.

Organizations

Professor Finke was the founding director of the American Religion Data Archive, which was renamed as the

(ARDA) in 2006. Supported by the

Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. (J. K.) Lilly Sr. and his so ...

and the

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization that reflects the ideas of its founder, John Templeton, who became wealthy via a career as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious an ...

, the ARDA provides free data on American and international religion, along with tools and resources to assist educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Finke is also a Fellow of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, and a past President of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture.

References

External links

Academic profile

The Association of Religion Data Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finke, Roger Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American sociologists Sociologists of religion University of Washington alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty