Beyond the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey: A Research Agenda

Publication Date: January 1993

Publisher: Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry

Author(s): Sidney Goldstein

Research Area: Culture and religion; Social conditions

Keywords: American Jews; Demography; Academic research

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

In Contemporary Jewry 14, 147-164. In the post-NJPS-1990 period, research on American Jewry faces key challenges: 1)reexamination of basic conceptual issues, including "who is a Jew," selection of the most appropriate indicators of Jewish identity, and understanding the interrelations among contextual factors, national linkages, social networks, and Jewish identity; 2) methodological issues such as fuller achievement of representative and standardized national coverage, development of in-depth follow-up studies, more effective comparative research among communities and between Jews and non-Jews, and greater reliance on multi-disciplinary perspectives and qualitative approaches; 3) fuller integration of research with planning; and 4) expansion of personnel resources.