The (Non) Religion of Mechanical Turk Workers

Social science researchers have increasingly come to utilize Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to obtain adult, opt-in samples for use with experiments. Based on the demographic characteristics of MTurk samples, studies have provided some support for the representativeness of MTurk. Others have...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the scientific study of religion
Authors: Lewis, Andrew R. 1981- (Author) ; Djupe, Paul A. 1971- (Author) ; Mockabee, Stephen T. (Author) ; Su-Ya Wu, Joshua (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2015]
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Amazon Mechanical Turk / Befragter / Religiosity / Evangelical movement / Catholic / Irreligiousness
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
KDB Roman Catholic Church
KDG Free church
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B seculars
B Experiment
B Religion
B Convenience Sample
B Politics
B Mechanical Turk
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Social science researchers have increasingly come to utilize Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to obtain adult, opt-in samples for use with experiments. Based on the demographic characteristics of MTurk samples, studies have provided some support for the representativeness of MTurk. Others have warranted caution based on demographic characteristics and comparisons of reliability. Yet, what is missing is an examination of the most glaring demographic difference in MTurk—religion. We compare five MTurk samples with a student convenience sample and the 2012 General Social Survey, finding that MTurk samples have a consistent bias toward nonreligion. MTurk surveys significantly overrepresent seculars and underrepresent Catholics and evangelical Protestants. We then compare the religiosity of religious identifiers across samples as well as relationships between religiosity and partisanship, finding many similarities and a few important differences from the general population.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12184