Toward a sociology of prayer

Abstract

Almost two years ago, while discussing with my colleagues the outcomes of some research concerning the practices of everyday life, we observed that many people assert that they pray regularly. This outcome is surely no surprise. Wishing to investigate this theme in depth, however, I have found that in sociology there are relatively few studies about this specific aspect of religiosity. This is especially surprising, since in virtually all studies of the sociology of religious behavior it is clearly apparent that a very high percentage of people declare they pray every day - And many say even many times a day.