| Project/Area Number |
16520055
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Religious studies
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| Research Institution | Taisho University |
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Principal Investigator |
YUMIYAMA Tatsuya Taisho University, Faculty of Human studies, Associate Professor (40311998)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ITO Masayuki Aichi Gakuin University, Faculty of Letters, Associate Professor (60340139)
KASHIO Naoki Keio University, Faculty of Letters, Associate Professor (50233698)
SHIOTSUKI Ryoko Nihonbashi Gakkan University, Faculty of Human Cultural Sciences and Business Administrations, Associate Professor (90297979)
WATANABE Mitsuharu Kanto Gakuin University, Faculty of Economics, Associate Professor (30329205)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2005
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2005)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
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| Keywords | Spirituality / Web Community / Internet / Religiosity / Sociology of Religion / Applied Religious Studies / New Spirituality Culture / Movement / Weblog |
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| Research Abstract |
When looking at the mass of information accumulated so far on the subject of "spirituality" and at academic definitions of it, it is evident that the meaning of "spirituality" has been difficult to grasp. The objective of this research was to analyze information that we collected about this subject mainly through the web community and to present the results within an academic framework both in theoretical and in practical terms. More concretely, we launched and managed the portal website'spiritual navigator' (abbr.Spinavi) and the blog 'My Spinavi'.
In this research we used several methods to analyze the feedback comments and the rest of the information exchanged online : we undertook a factor analysis of the spiritual psychological test conducted on the online posters and a multiple regression analysis between the number of posts in the forum that we created and the number of posts on blogs used by individuals who have an interest in the "spiritual" ; finally, we also analyzed the relationships born out of posting comments and trackbacking blog posts. The results of our analysis confirmed the existence of a tendency that should be termed a "spiritual crisis" : while an independent spirituality could be observed among the online posters of Spinavi, this spirituality, which is sustained through their exchanges, does not tend to withstand time. In addition and despite of our observation of a cooperation between online posters, a fact that could be seen as the formation of 'a community of support', it became clear that such a cooperation stops at the level of a superficial and 'weak' spirituality. Several practical themes were examined in this research project, such as the possibility of forming dialogues through the agency of 'spirituality' and the question of how enthusiasts and believers of spirituality are related.
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