DeKay examines factors that affect how Little Rock congregation members prioritize community issues
Landon DeKay
One University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is diving deeper into the results from the 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) to investigate the influence of income, politics, and religion on how people prioritize important community issues.
Landon DeKay, a senior graduate with a degree in political science, received a Signature Research Grant from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to examine how LRCS study participants prioritize healthcare, race relations, and income equality.
鈥淭he data from the 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study presents a unique opportunity to examine the interplay of religion, politics, and income,鈥� DeKay said. 鈥淭he extensive survey contains variables that enable me to test hypotheses regarding the influence of income, politics, and religion on the community issues that congregants prioritize.鈥�
DeKay recently won first place in the Social Sciences Division in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo for his presentation, 鈥淐ommunity Issues in Little Rock: The Interplay Between Religion, Politics, and Income.鈥�
鈥淭his spring, I worked with Landon on an independent study where he is digging deeper into the data, learning more sophisticated statistical analysis techniques, and seeking to better understand these complex social phenomena,鈥� said Dr. Rebecca Glazier, DeKay鈥檚 faculty mentor and head of the LRCS. 鈥淟andon is an excellent student, and this grant allowed him to have an educational experience that pushes his learning beyond what he would have received in a traditional classroom. I am really excited for him and proud of what he has accomplished.鈥�
The 2020 LRCS contains survey results from 2,293 people from 35 congregations in Little Rock. Additional factors such as age, income, tithing, political activity, and race were also explored as factors that affect issue prioritization.
His findings include:
Community engagement is the factor that has the greatest impact on whether people prioritize healthcare
Ideology is the factor that has the greatest impact on whether people prioritize income inequality
Community engagement is the factor that has the greatest impact on whether people prioritize race relations
While past explanations of issue prioritization focus on ideology and income, DeKay did not find the same findings for income among the LRCS participants. Income didn鈥檛 have a significant impact on the prioritization of healthcare and income inequality. Although income is a significant factor to determine how people prioritize race relations, it鈥檚 not the most important factor, falling behind community engagement, ideology, political activity and tithing.
鈥淚ncome was not as significant as other factors,鈥� DeKay said. 鈥淐ommunity engagement and ideology are the factors that are the most important when people look at which community issues to prioritize.鈥�
