The Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project has done extensive polling throughout the world, including in some Asian nations. The results of this research provide a window into the religious affiliation and commitment of Asians who have not emigrated and how they compare with Asians living in the U.S.
In some cases, Asian Americans show lower levels of religious commitment than those who share their religious affiliation in their country of origin. Indian-American Hindus, for example, are less likely than Hindus in India to say religion is very important to them and less likely to attend religious services at least once a week. This pattern is not true in every case, however. Vietnamese-American Buddhists, for instance, are more likely than Buddhists in Vietnam to say religion is very important in their lives and much more likely to say they pray daily.
China
Philippines
India
Vietnam
South Korea
Japan
Question Wording for Pew Global Attitudes Project Data
Religious Affiliation
China 2012: What is your religious belief? READ: Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, Quanzhen, Other (SPECIFY), No specific religious belief/atheist/not religious [VOL. DO NOT READ], Don’t know [VOL. DO NOT READ], Refused [VOL. DO NOT READ].
Philippines 2002: Do you consider yourself as belonging to a particular religion? IF YES, which one? READ: Roman Catholic church, Protestant church, Iglesia ni cristo, Jehovah’s witnesses, Born-again Christian, Mormon church, Aglipayan church, Islam/Moslem, No religion, Refused [VOL. DO NOT READ], Pentecostal/Pentecost, Iglesia Lagrada ng Lahng Kayu-manggi, Other.
India 2012: I have a quick question on religion. Do you consider yourself as belonging to a particular religion? IF YES, which one? READ: Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Other religion [VOL. DO NOT READ], No religion/not a believer/atheist/agnostic [VOL. DO NOT READ], Don’t know [VOL. DO NOT READ], Refused [VOL. DO NOT READ].
Vietnam 2002: Do you consider yourself as belonging to a particular religion? IF YES, which one? SHOW CARD (read if necessary): Buddhism, Christian, Catholic, Protestant, Confucian, Muslim, Others, None, Don’t know [VOL.], Refused [VOL.].
South Korea 2010: A quick question about religion. Do you currently have a religion? (If yes) Would you tell us what is your religion? OPEN END; PRECODES Christianity (Protestantism), Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Other, None, Don’t know, Refused.
Japan 2012: Please tell us briefly about your religion. Please tell us your religion. ACCEPT ONE RESPONSE ONLY; READ: Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, Islam, No religion, Other [VOL. DO NOT READ], Don’t know [VOL. DO NOT READ], Refused [VOL. DO NOT READ].
Religious Importance
How important is religion in your life—very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important?
Service Attendance
Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services—more than once a week, once a week, once or twice a month, a few times a year, seldom, or never?
Frequency of Prayer
People practice their religion in different ways. Outside of attending religious services, do you pray several times a day, once a day, a few times a week or less, or never?
Survey Methods
China 2012 N=3,177. Face-to-face interviewing of adults 18 and older. Multi-stage cluster sample stratified by China’s three regional-economic zones with disproportional sampling of the urban population. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
Philippines 2002 N=700. Face-to-face interviewing of adults 18 and older. National probability sample. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
India 2012 N=4,018. Face-to-face interviewing of adults 18 and older. National probability sample. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
Vietnam 2002 n=772. Face-to-face interviewing of adults ages 18 to 65. Probability sample is disproportionately urban. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
South Korea 2010 N=706. Face-to-face interviewing of adults 18 and older. National probability sample. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
Japan 2012 N=700. Random Digit Dial telephone interviewing of adults 18 and older. National probability sample. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error for subgroups is higher.
For more details, see www.pewresearch.org/global.
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