Dissertation Project of Eun A. Jung

Faith Development in Inter-cultural Comparison: An Empirical Investigation of the Faith Development of of Korean Christians in Germany and in Korea

Advisor:
Prof. Heinz Streib, Ph.D. / Emory Univ.

This research project is designed to investigate the faith development of Korean Christians in Korea and in the immigrant situation in Germany. Through the comparison of the results from both countries, we expect new insight into the impact of religious environment, cultural context and migration experiences on faith and faith development.

The core instrument used in this research is the “classical” faith development interview according to James W. Fowler (1981), as it is specified in the third edition of the Manual for Faith Development Research (2004).

The sample consists of two core subsamples in Germany and in Korea of approx. 20 participants with whom a faith development interview will be conducted – and this interview is eliciting a rich biographical account of the religious trajectory. Sampling will proceed in the qualitative subsamples by theoretic sampling according to the rule of maximal contrast and pay special attention to age, sex, social status, type of religious group.