Cross-national comparisons, theory and data analysis: linking, contextualizing and explaining boundaries of life

Goals:

The third meeting is based on the secondary analysis of existing data (EVS 1999-2008, WVS 1981-2005, Life and Values in Germany, Life and Values in Russia 2014) which were worked out in the lead-time. The members of the network are going to present the psychometric analyses of the scales in countries and tests of measurement invariance across countries as well as multilevel analyses of European comparative data. Apart from this, the linkages between the beginning and end of life will be discussed in context. The meeting also serves the first substantive and methodological discussion of the papers that shall be published in a collective volume. This discussion will be continued during the fourth meeting.

Topics:

– Cross-national comparisons and the measurement of end-of-life issues

– Linking the beginning and end of life

– Human Development and Autonomy at the Beginning and End of Life

– Longitudinal analysis of attitudes towards the end of life

– The beginning of life and the gender context

 

Expert guests:

Joachim Cohen (Brussels)

Hermann Dülmer (Cologne)

 

 

 

Religious Change and Value Change

Goals: The second meeting serves the exchange about the state of the research of religion and values from sociological, psychological and theological perspectives. First the pluralization of the religious field shall be discussed as well as an adequate reflection of this change in empirical measurements to derive a proposal for a more precise implementation of forms of religious beliefs in survey research. Second the theory of value change and the concept of value measurement shall be discussed especially with regard to the theoretical opposition of traditional acceptance and modern self-determination values.

Topics:

– Ethical perspectives and social science studies on beginning of life issues

– Pluralization of the religious field: new forms of belief and denominational differences

– Values as means of moral reasoning and the study of value change

– Linking ethics, religion and values; discussion and development tasks

 

Expert guests:

Heinz Streib, Bielefeld, on Pluralization of religiosity & spirituality

Sonia Roccas, Raanana, on Values as causal predictors of moral attitudes