238 Helen Rose Ebaugh
by discerning patterns of religious adaptation, we can develop generalizations that go
beyond endless descriptions of specific cases and arrive at conclusions that are testable.
One of the outcomes of a strategy to develop generalizations is the ability to con-
struct meaningful survey questions that can be utilized in broader immigration stud-
ies. Religion items could then be correlated with sociodemographic characteristics of
respondents as well as their immigration histories, occupational and socioeconomic as-
pects of their settlement in the United States, and social networks that serve as support
structures. In addition, such general surveys would provide comparisons of immigrants
who are involved in religious institutions with those who are not. The inclusion of reli-
gion items in surveys, as well as in other immigration studies, would, no doubt, increase
the awareness of immigration scholars of the importance of including religion in their
analyses of immigrant settlement and incorporation.
Another area for future research is greater focus on religious institutions in the
context of other community institutions that service the needs of immigrants, such as
cultural societies, political groups, neighborhood associations, social service agencies,
and home-town associations. The work of Eiesland (2000) on the social ecology of a
neighborhood, as well as Becker’s (1999) study of Oakland Park, are models of the ways
in which religious institutions and their members interact within a larger community
context.
One difficulty with using religious congregations as the unit of analysis, as is the
case in both the NEICP and RENIR projects, is the self-selection of respondents, that is, a
focus on those who are part of religious institutions. What is lacking in these studies are
data on immigrants who do not use religious institutions to facilitate their settlement,
including those who use nonreligious organizations.
The study of transnational religious communities is in its infancy and calls for
much more extensive work both in terms of individual and institutional ties between
the United States and home countries. In addition to focusing on direct transnational
ties, more research is needed on religious organizational networks that facilitate and
coordinate religious activities between home countries and those in which immigrants
have settled.
Most of the work being done on transnational religious communities focuses upon
immigrants in a specific sending and receiving country. We know, however, that immi-
grant streams seldom follow one geographical path; rather, immigrants tend to settle in
various receiving countries and communities simultaneously (Ong and Nonini 1997;
Laguerre 1998). A major research question arises: What variations evolve as immigrants
from the same country of origin adapt their religion to different social contexts? Are
there global influences that impact not only religious ties between home and host
countries but also among religious communities in various nations?
In conclusion, during the past decade the study of religion among the new immi-
grants has become a major research topic in the social scientific study of religion. A
body of literature is developing that demonstrates the central role that religion plays
in the settlement of new immigrants in the United States, as well as the impact that
the new immigrants are having on American religion. In addition to providing com-
fortable and familiar ways of worshipping, immigrant congregations today, as they did
in the past, are providing ways in which their members can reproduce and pass on to
their children cultural values, customs, and language. They create a “home away from
home,” a social space in which immigrants can share ethnic and religious customs with