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THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF CATHOLIC GRADUATES OF CATHOLIC AND PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA FROM 1972-1981
Abstract
The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare the religious beliefs and practices of Catholic high school graduates who attended Catholic and public high schools in the state of Nebraska; (2) to ascertain if there were significant differences between students graduating during 1972-1976 and 1977-1981; and (3) to compare the results of this study with those reported by Greeley, McCready, and McCourt in 1975 and by Fee, Greeley, McCready, and Sullivan in 1980. A 47-item questionnaire was developed to determine the current religious beliefs and practices of Catholic graduates from Catholic and public high schools. Two hundred forty questionnaires were sent to Catholic high school graduates and 240 were sent to public school graduates. All respondents graduated in the years 1972-1976 and 1977-1981. The data obtained from 277 responding graduates were analyzed by means of an analysis of variance and chi-square to determine differences between the Catholic school graduates and the public school graduates and between the 1972-1976 graduates and the 1977-1981 graduates. The Catholic school graduates had more religious education while in high school. However, the Catholic school graduates did not have much stronger religious beliefs and practices than the public high school graduates. Seventy-six percent of the items analyzed revealed no significant differences between the two groups. The Catholic school graduates were more extensively involved in mass attendance, private prayer, attendance at religious retreats, reading a Catholic newspaper, participation in informal liturgies, and attendance at religious discussion groups than the public high school graduates. The 1977-1981 graduates reported more involvement in the practices of communion, confession, and religious retreats than the 1972-1976 graduates. The findings reported in 1975 by Greeley and others and in 1980 by Fee and others were very similar to those reported in the study. Perhaps the greatest deviations from church doctrine were reflected by the responses of the graduates to the church's position on mass attendance, confession, birth control, divorce, married priests, women as priests, the leadership of the Pope and Papal infallibility. These findings suggest the respondents were questioning the Church's authority on each of these items.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching
Recommended Citation
RIDDER, NORMAN FREDERICK, "THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF CATHOLIC GRADUATES OF CATHOLIC AND PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA FROM 1972-1981" (1985). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8526602.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8526602