Methodology

Discover how we surveyed the world about the Bible

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The Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey

Conducted in partnership with Gallup, The Patmos Survey is the most ambitious and pioneering Bible engagement research project ever conducted due to its scale, methodology and reach.

Our approach

The Patmos Survey analyses the mission contexts of 150 countries, explores religious attitudes of 91,000 people in 85 countries, and offers new insight into how people relate to the Bible.

The Patmos Survey took a three-phased approach to understanding how people relate to the Bible:

Phase 1: identify a global typology, grouping countries into mission contexts based on similar contexts for mission

Phase 2: within each mission context, a representative sample of the adults across various countries were surveyed to establish attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in relation to the Bible

Phase 3: discover distinct audience groups that can be used to understand the religious landscape, inform mission strategy, and help people explore the Bible

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Using a typology to identify the Patmos Clusters

To develop the Patmos typology, we partnered with Gallup to analyse country-level factors affecting Bible engagement, resulting in seven mission contexts or ‘Patmos Clusters’.

Gallup interviewed stakeholders from BFBS, United Bible Societies, and international experts in World Christianity. These interviews identified country-level factors affecting Bible engagement and potential global data sources on religion, culture, society, language, political freedoms, economics, and demographics. The team identified 21 indicators from global data sets available for at least 150 countries. Using these indicators, cluster analysis grouped countries by their shared mission context, resulting in seven distinct Patmos Clusters.

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Survey design

BFBS worked closely with Gallup researchers to finalise survey questions related to the use and perceptions of the Bible for implementation in 85 countries and territories.

Questionnaires were designed to be fielded across in-person (CAPI), computer-assisted telephone (CATI), and web interviews (CAWI). Nine questionnaires were designed to allow for regional and cultural sensitivities. We asked questions about attitudes to religion, church attendance, Bible use, attitudes to the Bible, the influence of the Bible, and people’s confidence to interact with the Bible. Due to government restrictions, in 18 countries, we could only ask Christians about the Bible, and in five countries, we could not mention the Bible. Questionnaires were translated into 89 languages.

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Survey fieldwork

In 2023, Gallup conducted nationally representative fieldwork in 85 countries and territories, surveying at least 1,000 adults per country using various interview methods.

The total sample size across all countries and territories was 91,139 people, representing 3.8 billion people worldwide. In 62 countries, interviews were conducted via CAPI and CATI of those aged 15 and older. In 23 countries, data was collected via CAWI of those aged 18 and older. All samples were nationally representative. This means we heard from young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, people in urban and rural areas, people of faith and those of no faith. You can find out more about the CAPI and CATI fieldwork and the CAWI survey process at the bottom of this page.

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Identifying audience groups

We worked closely with Gallup analysts to run segmentation analysis on the data for the seven Patmos Clusters. This resulted in the identification of 64 audience groups around the world.

We used the Kamila algorithm for segmentation analysis in each Patmos Cluster. This analysis identifies groups with similar characteristics in how they relate to the Bible. While approaches varied across clusters, the general methodology included: identifying basis and split variables, imputing missing data, reducing data through factor analysis, and running segmentation analysis. With Gallup, we ran three iterations in each cluster and consulted with Bible Societies for insights. More details are available in the methodology section of The Patmos Survey report.