Q. How can I research the impact of a religion on society, the economy, etc.?

Two important theories of religiosity are the secularization hypothesis and the religion-market model.

Here is overview on how to find information on this topic:

The large search box on the library home page is a good place to start. The key is to pick search terms (also known as keywords) that identify a religious event or audience that is associated with an economic impact.  If you're not yet certain which religion you'd like to research, try a broad search like these: 

• religion AND worldview 
• religion AND society
• religion AND economy
• religion AND market
• religion AND macroeconomics

You can scan the articles and books in your results for ideas. As you search, notice that you can also use the filters on the left side of the screen.  These filters will let you limit your results by source type (articles, books, etc.), publication date and even language!

Once you have selected a specific religion or a religious event to research, you'll be ready to narrow your search by adding more specific keywords.  Below, see examples of how more specific keywords can be combined...your search terms will need to be specific to the country, religion or event that you've chosen, of course.  

• Christmas AND economy AND effect
• Buddhism AND worldview AND United States
• Ramadan AND restaurant AND impact
• Christianity AND book sales
• hijab fashion AND clothing sales
• anime AND Shintoism
• economy AND Holi AND India 

If you're having trouble finding results using the library's "Everything" search box, try using the ABI/INFORM database. It works well for students working on this assignment, and is available from the library's A to Z database list under the large search box on the library's website.  

You may also find this FAQ helpful for more detailed market research: Where can I find industry information?  or this one:  Need help finding finance information?