With regard to data collection, producing context-rich information from a number of sources, including surveys, interviews, and ethnographies, is foundational for research that aims to present a holistic picture of adolescent spirituality. This article presents an overview of how sociologists study the religious and spiritual development of adolescents, focusing on approaches to data collection, conceptualization of measures, and theoretical framing. Back Pocket God shows the changing relationship between emerging adults and religion, providing a window into the future of religion and, more broadly, American culture. God functions, in a sense, like a smartphone app-readily accessible, easy to control, and useful but only for limited purposes. In the process, they have transformed their conception of God from a powerful being or force that exists “out there” to their own personal “Pocket God”-a God that they can carry around with them but that exerts little power or influence in their daily lives. For emerging adults, God has become increasingly remote yet is highly personalized to meet their particular needs. Yet, whether religiously committed or not, emerging adults are increasingly personalizing, customizing, and compartmentalizing religion in ways that suit their idiosyncratic desires.

Denton and Flory show that while the dominant trend among young people is a move away from religious beliefs and institutions, there is also a parallel trend in which a small, religiously committed group of emerging adults claim faith as an important fixture in their lives. What do the religious and spiritual lives of American young people look like as they reach their mid to late 20s, enter the full-time job market, and start families? In Back Pocket God, the authors provide a look beyond conflicting stories that argue that emerging adults either are overwhelmingly leaving religion or are earnest spiritual seekers maintaining a significant place in their lives for religion.

Pocket god free 2019