A Statistical Profile Of Mormons: Health, Wealth, And Social Life

by Tim B. Heaton, Stephen J. Bahr, Cardell K. Jacobson

“This book is a valuable contribution to American religious studies in general and to Mormon studies in particular. In a single volume, it provides us with a rich and reliable social portrait of one of this nation's largest and most influential religious communities. Its contributions are methodological as well as substantive. That is, it draws upon not just one but several different national surveys, each a scientifically reliable and high quality study in its own right. As the findings from these various surveys converge, therefore, the results represent a broad consensus from the data, both on the social portrait generally and on the most important specifics. Nowhere else in either the scientific or the popular literature is there such an extensive collection of reliable data on the social characteristics of American Latter-day Saints (Mormons) … These are only a few examples of the rich discoveries awaiting both Mormon and non-Mormon readers of this important and unprecedented social portrait of contemporary American Mormons. Especially noteworthy is the recognition that all of the different aspects of the Mormon "life-style" addressed here are mutually reinforcing and thereby produce a coherent American subculture. From here on, any journalists or scholars purporting to make reliable and authoritative comments on Mormons will be required to consult this book if their work is to have public credibility. We can be grateful to these authors for their painstaking work in putting this collection together.” – (From the Commendatory Preface) Armand L. Mauss, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, Washington State University

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004