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Manfred te Grotenhuis

Other affiliations: Harvard University
Bio: Manfred te Grotenhuis is an academic researcher from Radboud University Nijmegen. The author has contributed to research in topics: Church attendance & Regression analysis. The author has an hindex of 19, co-authored 51 publications receiving 2469 citations. Previous affiliations of Manfred te Grotenhuis include Harvard University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is some disagreement, however, what the most appropriate indicator of scale reliability is when a measure is composed of two items and the most frequently reported reliability statistic for multiple-item scales is Cronbach's coefficient alpha.
Abstract: Rob Eisinga, Manfred te Grotenhuis, Ben Pelzer Department of Social Science Research Methods and Department of Sociology, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands October 8 2012 To obtain reliable measures researchers prefer multiple-item questionnaires rather than single-item tests. Multiple-item questionnaires may be costly however and time-consuming for participants to complete. They therefore frequently administer two-item measures, the reliability of which is commonly assessed by computing a reliability coefficient. There is some disagreement, however, what the most appropriate indicator of scale reliability is when a measure is composed of two items. The most frequently reported reliability statistic for multiple-item scales is Cronbach’s coefficient alpha and many researchers report this coefficient for their two-item measure

1,584 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This comment emphasizes the problem of influential cases and presents ways to detect and deal with them and provides recommendations and tools to detection and handle influential cases, specifically in cross-sectional multilevel analyses.
Abstract: A large number of cross-national survey datasets have become available in recent decades. Consequently, scholars frequently apply multilevel models to test hypotheses on both the individual and the country level. However, no currently available cross-national survey project covers more than 54 countries (GESIS 2009). Multilevel modeling therefore runs the risk that higher-level slope estimates (and the substantial conclusions drawn from these estimates) are unreliable due to one or more influential cases (i.e., countries). This comment emphasizes the problem of influential cases and presents ways to detect and deal with them. To detect influential cases, one may use both graphic tools (e.g., scatter plots at the aggregate level) and numeric tools (e.g., diagnostic tests such as Cook’s D and DFBETAS). To illustrate the usefulness and necessity of these tools, we apply them to a study that was recently published in this journal (Ruiter and De Graaf 2006). Finally, we provide recommendations and tools to detect and handle influential cases, specifically in cross-sectional multilevel analyses.

185 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the 1991 ISSP database containing relevant data of 16,604 inhabitants of 15 countries to answer three research questions on moral attitudes (i.e., attitudes concerning abortion, premarital and extramarital relations, and homosexual relations).
Abstract: The aim of the present study is to answer three research questions on moral attitudes (i.e., attitudes concerning abortion, premarital and extramarital relations, and homosexual relations). Which parental and individual characteristics affect moral attitudes? Do the effects of parental and individual characteristics vary across countries? And, if so, can these effect differences on moral issues be explained by national characteristics? To answer these questions, we use the 1991 ISSP database containing relevant data of 16,604 inhabitants of 15 countries. Hypotheses are tested using multi-level analyses. We find that parental and individual religiosity, as well as individual educational attainment, have strong effects on moral attitudes. However, we observe considerable effect differences across countries, which is a rather new finding. Effects of individual religiosity on moral attitudes appear to be stronger in more religious countries and weaker in more secularized countries. Effects of individual education are stronger in more religiously heterogeneous countries and weaker in more religiously homogeneous countries. Finally, effects of individual education on moral attitudes are weaker in short-standing democracies than in long- standing ones.

165 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between religious networks and suicide risk and found that with an increase in the proportion of religious persons in a municipality, the chances of committing suicide decrease for every denomination in that municipality, as well as among non-church members.
Abstract: In Suicide, Durkheim found that involvement in religious communities is inversely related to suicide risk. In this article, two explanations for this relationship are examined. One is that religious networks provide support. The other is that religious communities prohibit suicide. To examine these hypotheses, individual‐level data on suicide in the Netherlands from 1936 to 1973 are used. The results show that with an increase in the proportion of religious persons in a municipality, the chances of committing suicide decrease for every denomination in that municipality, as well as among nonchurch members. Furthermore, along with the secularization of Dutch society, the impact of religious composition on suicide wanes. These results contradict the network‐support mechanism and confirm the notion that religious communities have a general protective effect against suicide.

125 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe and explain differences in the amount of some dimensions of social capital within and between European societies, focusing on social contacts with family and friends, and derive hypotheses about cross-national differences in social capital from theories on the nature of welfare state regimes.
Abstract: We set out to describe and explain differences in the amount of some dimensions of social capital within and between European societies. Social capital refers to a wide range of social phenomena; however, we focus on social contacts with family and friends. We derive hypotheses about cross-national differences in social capital from theories on the nature of welfare state regimes. We test these hypotheses with multi-level analyses on Eurobarometer data, collected in thirteen countries. We find significant variance across different countries. This variance is partly explained by individual characteristics: religious people and people living in medium-sized or rural towns have more social contacts. Moreover, we find quite differential effects of other individual characteristics on social contacts and no effects of political stances. Differences in the cross-national compositions in educational attainment and household size also account for the variance in social contacts. Finally, people living in social-de...

103 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 1981
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers, a method for assessing Collinearity, and its applications in medicine and science.
Abstract: 1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers. 3. Detecting and Assessing Collinearity. 4. Applications and Remedies. 5. Research Issues and Directions for Extensions. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

4,948 citations

MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of Islam and politics in post-communist Europe and the United States is presented, focusing on the theory of existential security and the consequences of Secularization.
Abstract: Part I. Understanding Secularization: 1. The secularization debate 2. Measuring secularization 3. Comparing secularization worldwide Part II. Case Studies of Religion and Politics: 4. The puzzle of secularization in the United States and Western Europe 5. A religious revival in post-communist Europe? 6. Religion and politics in the Muslim world Part III. The Consequences of Secularization: 7. Religion, the Protestant ethic, and moral values 8. Religious organizations and social capital 9. Religious parties and electoral behavior Part IV. Conclusions: 10. Secularization and its consequences 11. Re-examining the theory of existential security 12. Re-examining evidence for the security thesis.

2,608 citations

Book
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge as discussed by the authors argues that human reality and knowledge of it is a social construct, emerging from the individual or group's interaction with larger social structures (institutions).
Abstract: Peter Berger (1929) is an American sociologist best known for his collaboration with Thomas Luckman in writing The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. That book argues that human reality, and knowledge of it, is a social construct, emerging from the individual or group’s interaction with larger social structures (institutions). Social structures, once widely adopted, lose their history as social constructions (objectivation), and come over time, by the people who live within them, to be deemed natural realities independent of human construction (reification). Berger predicted, in his later book, The Sacred Canopy, near-term all-encompassing secularization of religion, which prediction has proved false, especially in the third world (as Berger himself has acknowledged in his later work, Desecularization).

1,951 citations