city-membership-codebook.txt

Dataset title: City-level membership data by denomination from the U.S. Censuses of Religious Bodies
Source: American Religious Ecologies <https://religiousecologies.org>
Creator: Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media <https:rrchnm.org>
Date released: 2024
DOI: 10.31835/relec.data.002

Description: This dataset contains the membership data for denominations (or other religious groupings) grouped by city. Included are the cities data listed in the 1906, 1916, 1926, and 1936 censuses. Note that in addition to the number of congregations and total membership, the census bureau in some years reported membership data broken down by age (over or under 13 years old) and in other years by sex (male and female).

Fields:

- year (integer): The census year for which this data was gathered.
- city (text): The name of the city.
- state (text): A two-letter code for the state of the city.
- denomination (text): The name of the denomination as most commonly used by the Census Bureau.
- denomination_id (text): A code, usually three digits, that the Census Bureau assigned to identify denominations. For example, "Primitive Baptists" are represented by `0-2-3`. This data is available for most (not all) denominations in the 1926 census, but not for other years. 
- churches (integer): The number religious congregations in that denomination, city, and year.
- members_total (integer): The total number of members reported across congregations for that denomination, city, and year.
- members_over_13 (integer): The number of members over the age of 13 reported across congregations for that denomination, city, and year.
- members_under_13 (integer): The number of members under the age of 13 reported across congregations for that denomination, city, and year.
- members_male (integer): The number of male members reported across congregations for that denomination, city, and year.
- members_female (integer): The number of female members reported across congregations for that denomination, city, and year.
- id (integer): An arbitrarily assigned identifier for each row in the dataset, suitable for use as a primary key.

Other information: 
- Missing data is represented by an `NA`.

Citations: 

- E. Dana Durand, Religious Bodies: 1906, Part 1 Summary and General Tables (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910), 16-18.
- Sam. L. Rogers, Religious Bodies: 1916, Part 1 Summary and General Tables (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919), 15-17.
- W. M. Steuart, Religious Bodies: 1926, Volume 1 Summary and Detailed Tables (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1930), 10-12.
- J. C. CAPT, Religious Bodies: 1936, Volume 1 Summary and Detailed Tables (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1941), 11-16.