Aug 28 2009
On Spirituality and Other Bogus Variables
Personally, I applaud the scientific study of religious phenomena and claims. If something occurs in the real world, I want to understand it. But the science should be . . . scientific.
News of research on weight loss I encountered the other day falls short on two fronts. I’m sure the title itself will raise alarm bells in skeptical readers: Why Weight Watchers succeeds: Meetings provide a blend of spirituality and therapy
But before we get to the “spirituality” issue, let’s consider another important issue. How good was the quality of the data the researchers generated and based there conclusions upon? You tell me -
Authors Risto Moisio (California State University, Long Beach) and Mariam Beruchashvili (California State University, Northridge) undertook observations of weekly Weight Watchers meetings and conducted interviews with female members and group leaders. They conclude that Weight Watchers provides a powerful service to its clientele.
(Hint: Saying the data is “not terribly strong” would be generous.)
Second comes the use of the term “spiritual/spirituality.” Authors Moisio and Beruchashvili write,
The presence of fellow Weight Watchers is equally therapeutic as it is spiritual: it transforms the support group into a greater, spiritual power that engenders therapeutic aid to members struggling with their diets.
This is science?!
The choice of words in this research brings up the general problem of introducing spirituality or other religious terms as variables. The problem? For a term to be scientific it must be defined according to real-world attributes that can be measured. Far too often religious terms are used as a short-cut, or even a gloss-over, the mundane reality lurking beneath. So “religiosity” can simply mean “attending church every week and socializing with like-minded others” or “answering a questionnaire a particular way.” As for the real-world meaning of “spirituality,” what is it? Warm feelings? Thoughts of being connected to others, of having purpose in one’s life? Spirituality is a vague term with a huge potential to mislead and thus should be better pinned down. At least if a person wants to call what they do science.
