Home – Home – Jornals – Professional Education in the Modern World 2020 number 2

This paper presents specific characteristics of denominations and religious organizations and groups taking into account contemporary religious legislation, methodological principles, and regional specifics for a qualitative methodological study of the program of sociological field research. The purpose of the article is to consider the main types of religious organizations and groups, aspects of identifying religious communities, difficulties in interpreting and applying religious legislation by a researcher who does not have special religious knowledge. Methodology. The article used the method of religious comparative studies, the comparative historical method, the system approach, work with documents (the analysis of sociological monitoring data conducted in the Altai Republic). Results. Considering various typologies and criteria for distinguishing religious communities, it is more correct to stick to typologies that are close to the normative base (names and wordings presented in religious legislation) and also include specific features taking into account this or that regional component in the Russian Federation. In accordance with the religious legislation, all religious organizations and groups have an equal status (principle of secularism, freedom of conscience). In addition to the normative component, a sociologist has to consider the peculiarities of representing a religious group and organization in the public mind (legal names may not coincide with common names or, on the contrary, may be mixed in the minds of the respondents, for example, various Christian groups and denominations and their names are confused by the population). When studying the public opinion as well as analyzing the religious ideas of the younger generation, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the representation of religious organizations and groups, both real and virtual, in the Internet. The state pays special attention to the analysis of virtual manifestations of religious extremism. A sociologist needs not only to understand the network content, but also to be able to correlate it with real religious communities.