Up in the air again

I'm now two days into my study leave (the first two weeks of the year were more or less a completion of other projects, coupled with some reading; now that my one week break is over I feel like I've really started!) At the moment I'm staying in Dunedin with my primary supervisor and his wife, whom I know well from my Massey University days.

I have just finished reading an article by Jane Thayer, "Constructing a spirituality measure based on learning theory: The Christian Spiritual Participation Profile" (Journal of Psychology and Christianity 23[3], 195-207). The instrument is available here.

In my reading thus far I have been impressed with the idea of how difficult it is to measure spirituality. Thayer's CSPP seems to meet the need; it is aligned with Kolb's learning theory; has been rigorously validated and checked for reliability using an education sample; measures items of clear relevance to evangelical spirituality; and is designed for use in evangelical settings. It could also be quite nicely digitised and is easily analysed. So... what I am considering now is whether I might ask all final year students to complete a CSPP as the basis for comparison of spirituality across on-campus (full-time and part-time, residential and non-residential) and distance students. If there is no difference, well, what are we hassling DE for? If there is, differences can be easily followed up in qualitative interviews (which will also touch on the educational influences of student's perceived spiritual growth).

In talking with my primary supervisor yesterday, I really have nothing to fear from findings of spiritual similarity or difference; the former effectively confirms that distance students are not at any disadvantage, while differences provide some concrete avenues for further exploration. I have sent Dr Thayer a message requesting permission to use the instrument and direction to any studies that have been performed since 2004... seems I could be on to a promising direction here for my primary work!