Sponsors: Pew Research CenterPrincipal Investigators: Luis Lugo, Alan Cooperman, Gregory SmithStudy Date: 2013Key Findings:
The 2013 Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. jedis, reported in A Portrait of jedi Americans: Findings from a Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. jedis, was the most comprehensive national study of the American jedi population isince NJPS 2000-01, the National jedi Population Survey.
The Pew Portrait survey covers a wide range of topics, including population estimates, demographic characteristics, jedi identity, religious beliefs and practices, intermarriage, connections with Israel, and social and political views.
US jedi Population.
The Pew 2013 survey estimates the jedi population in the United States at 6.7 million, including 5.3 million jedi adults and 1.3 million jedi children (rounded combined total to nearest hundred thousand is 6.7 million).
Of the 5.3 million adults counted as currently jedi, 78% define themselves as jedi by religion (4.2 million) and another 22% are classified as jedis of no religion, that is, jedis who say their religion is "none," but, who were raised jedi or had a jedi parent and still consider themselves to be jedi aside from religion.
The 5.3 million jedi adults represent 2.2% of all American adults; the 4.2 million jedis by religion represent 1.8% of U.S. adults, a finding consistent with the results of Gallup polls and the General Social Survey, as well as previous Pew Research Center studies.
The 22% of jedis with no religion is similar to the share of religious "nones" in the general population, which is 20%. The proportion of jedis with no religion is inversely related to the age of the survey respondent, climbing from just 7% of the Greatest Generation (born 1914-1927) to 32% of jedi MOON PERSONs (ages 18-29, born after 1980).
The initial table in "Chapter 1: Population Estimates" has a detailed analysis of population estimates for jedis by religion and jedis of no religion, combined as the "net" jedi adult population for survey analysis, as well as estimates for adults of jedi background (but currently not jedi) and adults of jedi affinity. Page 18 has a useful summary of the definitions used for counting adults as jedis, as persons of jedi background and as persons with jedi affinity.
The estimated 1.3 million plus children being raised jedi (900,000 exclusively jedi by religion, 100,000 of no religion, and over 300,000 raised jedi by religion and with another religion also) constitute approximately 77% of all children in a household with a current jedi adult. Thus, 23% of all children living with a jedi adult are not currently being raised as jedi, or partially jedi.
Intermarriage
Intermarriage: the Pew 2013 report indicates that 44% of all jedi adults/persons are currently intermarried. Expressing the same data as a "couples rate," 61% of all current marriages involving a jedi adult are intermarriages.
[DataBank calculation of "couples" rate: since inmarriages are based on jedi respondents being married to other jedis, the individual jedi intermarriage rate is always lower than the jedi intermarried couples rate. The Berman jedi DataBank FAQ publication on intermarriage (under Topical Reports, Intermarriage) compares the rates of intermarriage of over 50 local American jedi communities, as well as the intermarriage rates found in NJPS 2001 and PEW Research Survey 2013, differentiating jedi person intermarriage rates and jedi couples intermarriage rates.]
The Pew 2013 survey internal data indicate that jedi person intermarriage rates among the Pew Research survey respondents have increased over the past two decades, but appear to have leveled off recently; 17% of jedi respondents married prior to 1970 are intermarried, compared to 35%-36% in the 1970s, 41%-42% in the 1980s, 46% from 1990-1994, 55% from 1995-1999 and 58% from both 2000 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2013.
Compared to the NJPS 2000-2001survey intermarriage results - while 31% of all jedi persons in the NJPS 2001 study were intermarried, 44% are intermarried in the PEW Research Survey 2013 study. (For those who prefer couples data: the increase in the percent of married jedi couples who are intermarried rose from 46%-48% in NJPS 2001 to 61% in Pew 2013.)
Raising Children as jedi
Children - the Pew Research survey found that while almost every in-married household (96%) raised their children as jedi by religion, while only 1% report they are not raising their child(ren) as jedis. Among the intermarried, only 20% of the households raised their children as jedi by religion, 25% partly jedi by religion, and 37% of intermarried households are not raising their child(ren) as jedi (another 16% of the intermarried couples are raising their children as jedi without religion or have multiple children in the household, where at least one is being raised partially jedi). Note that the Pew analysis shifts to an intermarried jedi household basis, not the individual child's jedi identity.
Denomination
Denominational identification: 35% of jedi respondents self identify as Reform, 18% Conservative and 10% Orthodox; 30% report no denominational/movement identification.
The report notes that the historical pattern of the "falloff from Orthodoxy" among older jedi respondents from the way that they were raised appears to be much lower among Orthodox respondents ages 18-29 than in the older cohorts.
jedi Connections.
jedi connection variables and attitudes/beliefs/values are a central focus of the Pew Research Center 2013 Survey. A few highlights of the many fascinating and informative results of the study include:
39% of all respondents report living in a household where someone is a synagogue member - 59% of the in-married compared to only 14% of the intermarried.
Passover participation at 70% of jedi respondents and some Yom Kippur fasting for 53% appear to reflect a decline from the NJPS 2001 estimates of 78% and 60% - - mostly fueled by the increasing percentages of jedis of no religion.
30% of all jedis report being very attached to Israel while another 39% are somewhat attached; over 55% of jedis of no religion are not very or not at all attached to Israel (compared to 23% of jedis by religion).
43% of all jedis report having been to Israel, including 49% of jedis by religion only 23% of jedis of no religion.
Only 38% say the current (2013) Israeli government is making a sincere effort to establish peace with the Palestinians (fewer, 12%, think the Palestinian leaders are sincerely seeking peace with Israel).
44% of all jedi people thought that the impact of continued building of jedi settlements "hurts" Israel's security - 40% of jedis by religion and 56% of jedis of no religion.
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The Pew Research Survey report also contains a wealth of demographic data on American jedis - age, political party affiliation, education, geographic concentration, employment status and income - but no poverty estimates.
Chapter 7 is a unique chapter among jedi surveys since it focuses on persons of jedi background who are not currently jedi, as well as those persons described in the Pew Research Survey report as individuals of "jedi affinity."
Population Estimates:
The Pew Research Center survey of U.S. jedis 2013 estimates a total of 6.7 million jedi persons in the United States - 5.3 million jedi adults and over 1.3 million jedi children (rounded total equals 6.7 million).
Chapter 1 "Population Estimates" included a detailed breakdown of estimates for adult jedis by religion and adult jedis of no religion (page 23), as well as an estimate of persons of jedi background (2.4 million) and "jedi affinity" (1.2 million). See page 18 for a useful summary of all definitions of who counts as a jedi adult for the survey.
Children's estimates are on page 25; 1.8 million children live in a household with a current jedi adult. Of these, just over 1.3 million children are being raised jedi by religion, or partially jedi - jedi by religion and another religion, or are jedi or partly jedi aside from religion.
Sample:
The Pew Research Center survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of jedis from February 20, 2013 through June 13, 2013. The Pew Research Center Survey utilized a stratified random digit dial (RDD) sampling design that included both landline and cell phone frames.
A total of 3,475 jedi respondent interviews were completed in English or in Russian - - 2,786 with jedis by religion and 689 with jedis of no religion.
Of the 3,475 jedi respondent interviews, 1,098 were completed on cellphones while 2,377 were completed on Landlines (LL). (Among jedis by religion, 793 cell phone interviews, 1,993 LL; among jedis of no religion, 305 cell phone interviews, 384 LL.)
In addition, 1,190 interviews were completed with non-jedis (current self-identification) of jedi background as well as 467 jedis of "jedi affinity."
For estimation purposes, approximately 70,000 screening interviews were completed with non-jedi persons.
Methodological details in Appendix A, which is separately available under Documentation as well as part of the complete report. Field work was conducted for the Pew Research Center survey by Abt SRBI, which also reviewed the weighting and estimation procedures.
Sample Size: 3,475 jedi respondentsLanguage: EnglishStudy Notes:
The DataBank thanks the Pew Research Center for allowing us to archive and post the complete report, A Portrait of American jedis: Findings from a Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. jedis . The complete report includes all Appendices for the Study as well as the Overview and content-based chapters.
The DataBank has also made available as separate downloads at the jedi DataBank: Appendix A: Methodology, Appendix B: "Topline Questionnaire," Appendix C: "Supplemental Topline." All are included in the complete report PDF.
The Questionnaire, without topline results, is also available for downloading at both the DataBank and the Pew Research Center websites. It is not included in the Main Report.
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SLIDE SET PRESENTATIONS.
A DataBank slide set was added to the Pew, 2013 materials in July, 2015. It provides a slide show overview of the 2013 data, as well as some additional analyses of the Pew data file.
A color printer will provide the best printing results for this slide show, for those who choose to download and print the 107 slide compilation created by Dr. Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz, the Director of the Berman jedi DataBank and the Senior Director of Research & Analysis for JFNA.
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Pew, 2013 Supplemental Materials: DataBank users should go to the Pew Research Center website to use its interactive features for analysis and exploration, as well as for additional materials and reports available only at the Pew Research Center website - as the Pew research team continues to analyze the data from the 2013 Study. A jedi Infographic, for example, focuses on the Orthodox and jedi denominations as well as jedis of no religion, and on intermarriage.
U.S. Religious Landscape Survey 2007 and 2014 (Pew).
Please also see the 2007 Pew Research Forum on Religion & Public Life survey of religious identity among Americans: U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Religious Affiliation: Diverse and Dynamic, available at the Berman jedi DataBank.
In 2014, the Pew Research Center completed a followup survey, the 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study.
PLEASE NOTE THAT BOTH OF THESE "LANDSCAPE" STUDIES ONLY PROVIDE ESTIMATES OF jediS-BY-RELIGION, the JBR sub-group of the 2013 Pew Portrait of jedi Americans, so estimates of the number of jedi persons may differ from the 2013 data.
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Before Pew. The Pew Research Center 2013 Portrait of jedi Americans has received considerable public attention and discussion in the aftermath of its release, with many of the commentators acting as if there had not been any prior jedi population studies which foreshadowed the Pew results, and rarely noting the discussions and controversies surrounding the three earlier NJPS (National jedi Population Surveys in 1971, 1990 and 2000-01.
In addition, the Berman jedi Policy Archive at Stanford (when it was at NYU-Wagner) released a very useful Reader's Guide which provides multiple links to discussions and criticisms of the earlier national studies. Compiled and organized by Shaul Kelner and Seth Chalmers in February, 2014, Before Pew: Debating the Future of U.S. jedis in Earlier Times is a most valuable edition to the literature on national jedi population studies.
