Journal for Christian reflections in the context of social sciences and humanities

Caritas et veritas 2021, 11(2):181-194 | DOI: 10.32725/cetv.2021.043

A Badly Dressed Emperor?
Spirituality Research in Social Sciences, Analysis of Methodological Approaches

Jan Kaňák1, Jan Váně2
1 Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Husitská teologická fakulta, Katedra historické teologie a církevních dějin, Pacovská 4, 140 21 Praha
2 Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, Fakulta filozofická, Katedra sociologie, Sedláčkova 15, 301 00 Plzeň

The presented review article is based on the context of clashes/encounters in spirituality and social sciences. It focuses on the framework of methodological considerations for the study of spirituality. The study aims to answer the question: What thematic units appear in the contemporary literature of the social sciences in connection with the applied research method in the study of spirituality? For the purposes of the article, a sufficient literary review was used. Of the original 139 texts that met the set criteria, 32 articles were included in the review after screening for abstracts and entire texts. These were analysed in terms of thematic units, which can be identified in terms of applied research methods. The data points out that spirituality is not understood by all as an analytical concept, especially due to the non-specificity and vagueness of the concept. Other identified topics also result from this statement. The outputs can be used as an initial orientation board for those researchers who decide to explore the topic of spirituality. For practicing helping professionals, it can then offer a basic interpretive framework for texts that deal with spirituality within the helping professions.

Keywords: spirituality, religiosity, social sciences, research, methodology

Accepted: February 14, 2022; Published: March 1, 2022  Show citation

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Kaňák, J., & Váně, J. (2021). A Badly Dressed Emperor?
Spirituality Research in Social Sciences, Analysis of Methodological Approaches. Caritas et veritas, 11(2), 181-194. doi: 10.32725/cetv.2021.043
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