What is religion? For most people, this is a simple question which hardly merits deep thought. Religions are commonly defined by a belief in God or gods and perhaps an after- life, but they also involve worship in religious buildings such as chapels, synagogues or mosques and doing 'religious things' such as praying and eating or not eating certain food- stuffs. However, for sociologists of religion trying to set limits to their field of study, reach- ing general agrcement on such a basic matter has proved extraordinarily difficult. Indeed, Aldridge (2007: 30) argues that 'Religion is a contested concept. We cannot expect to agree on a definition and then debate matters of substance, since matters of substance are built into any definition. There is not, and never will be, a universally agreed definition of religion. But why not? One reason is that sociology contains a plurality of general theoretical perspectives, and these differ in how they construe the natu
Durkheim's study of suicide rates The research problem One of the most unsettling aspects of our lives is the phenomenon of suicide, which often leaves those left behind with more questions than answers. Why do some people decide to take their own lives? Where do the pressures they experience actually come from? One of the early sociological classics which explores the relationship between the individual and society is Emile Durkheim's analysis of suicide rates, Suicide: A Study in Sociology ((Durkheim 1952 [1897]). Even though people see themselves as individuals exercising free will and choice, their behaviours are often socially patterned and shaped and Durkheim's study showed that even a highly personal act like suicide is influenced by what happens in the social world. Research had been conducted on suicide prior to Durkheim's study, but he was the first to insist on a sociological explanation. Previous writers had acknowledged the influence of some so