An analysis of Religious Diversity Index (RDI) by Pew Research Center

This chapter presents an overview of the origin, methodology, applications, strengths and weaknesses of the Religious Diversity Index (RDI) compiled by the Pew Research Centre. This index stands out among other indices, in that it has a demographic focus on summarizing how religiously diverse a population is (most other indices presented in this volume address policies or outcomes). In order to achieve this, RDI must first address the complexity of measuring religious identity (in the case of RDI, self-identification, rather than observance or beliefs, is the method chosen). The mathematical formula used to capture religious diversity is provided. The chapter also provides top and bottom country rankings, applications, then goes on to analyze strength and weaknesses and proposes directions for future research.