Volume 21 - Article 10 | Pages 255–288  

The Malawi Religion Project:: Data collection and selected analyses

By Jimi Adams, Jenny Trinitapoli

Abstract

Scholars have recently become increasingly interested in the role religion plays in the responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we present the Malawi Religion Project (MRP), which provides data to examine the relationship between religion and HIV/AIDS through surveys and in-depth interviews with denominational leaders, congregational leaders and congregation members in three districts of rural Malawi. In the paper, we outline existing perspectives on the religion-HIV/AIDS link describe the MRP’s design, implementation and subsequent data; provide initial evidence for a series of general research hypotheses; and describe how these data can be used both to extend explorations of these relationships further and as a model for gathering similar data in other contexts. In particular we highlight the unique possibilities this project provides for analyses that link MRP data to the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project. These linked data produce a multi-level data set covering individuals, congregations and their communities allowing empirical research on religion, HIV/AIDS risk, related behaviors, attitudes and norms.

Author’s Affiliation

• Jimi Adams - University of Colorado Denver, United States of America EMAIL
• Jenny Trinitapoli - University of Chicago, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Mobile phones, digital inequality, and fertility: Longitudinal evidence from Malawi
Volume 42 - Article 37

Sibling support and the educational prospects of young adults in Malawi
Volume 30 - Article 19

The Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project 2004-06: Data collection, data quality, and analysis of attrition
Volume 20 - Article 21

Beyond denomination: The relationship between religion and family planning in rural Malawi
Volume 19 - Article 55

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