Mining the meanings and pulling out the processes from psychology of religion's correlation mountain.

The article illustrates how rigorous quantitative studies in three distinct and promising areas opened the door to additional related qualitative work. Using qualitative narratives from a landmark sample of 184 diverse religious families, the authors discuss and illustrate two research methods and that have been useful to them: triangulating data in the context of family, and seeking truth through progressive questioning. Next, consistent with the paper's primary purpose, the authors highlight three areas where the strong, correlation-based research foundation provided by quantitative social scientists of religion has created some prime, complementary opportunities for follow-up work by qualitative researchers. The specific areas illustrated include the following: (1) the case of religiosity and African American morality, (2) the case of parent-adolescent communication, and (3) how shared religion helps marriages last. Recommendations for future research are offered.