The impact of institutional context on research in religious education: results from an international comparative study

On the one hand, research on religious education is done according to a transnational scientific paradigm, on the other hand, it is performed within particular institutional contexts which vary from nation to nation.This raises the question of how institutional context affect research on religious education. The paper addresses this question on the basis of an international study. N = 49 colleagues across Europe as well as Israel, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey filled in an online-questionnaire regarding their own research. Despite the international character of the sample, research on religious education seems to be practiced quite coherently in regard of the objects of inquiry, the applied methods, and the disciplines the colleagues refer to. The few significant differences indicate that theology and educational studies are slightly more important in contexts of denominational religious education as well as analysing both pupils and processes of teaching and learning. In the context of non-denominational RE, instead, religious studies is slightly more important. These results will be discussed.