Robert Wuthnow has produced another informative, provocative, and important book. Partly a history of survey research about religion in the United States and partly a sustained criticism of low-quality surveys and naive interpretations of survey results, Inventing American Religion provides an opportunity to ponder again the strengths and limits of surveys and the ways in which surveys help to construct, rather than merely reflect, developments in American religion.
Mark Chaves, Journal of Religion
As one of the leading researchers and scholars in the sociology of religion, Robert Wuthnow is perfectly positioned to provide considerable insight into the process and production of sociological research into religion. This work provides interesting historical context to some of the most famous studies in the field. This book will be of interest to those who are interested in the history of those famous studies, those who are interested in polling and sociological research methods, and those who are interested in the social construction of knowledge itself. Readers will be challenged to reconsider what they think they know about what it means to be religious.
V. Jacquette Rhoades, Reading Religion
Mandatory reading for sociologists of religion and deserving an even wider audience ... fascinating.
P. Kivisto, CHOICE