Methods
Coalition members recruited local volunteers to research the answers to a series of 14 questions.i The volunteers were recruited through email action alerts from the Women's Justice Coalition member organizations and/or organizational newsletters, who were invited to sign up for the project via the Women's Justice Coalition Web site. Catholics Speak Out supporters received response forms for joining the survey team. Other volunteers were recruited through personal contacts by the working group. A total of 95 volunteers signed up for the project via the Web site. Those who signed up on the Web site sometimes represented local team members for the purposes of filling out the final report card, which could be completed on a separate secured Web site.
Some of the questions required interviews with diocesan personnel. Much of the information was available from church documents and Web sites. The questionnaire proved to be daunting for many volunteers, despite step-by-step directions. Many of the volunteers felt it took more time than they had available or that they lacked enough expertise to complete the survey. Assistance was provided through forums and by the coordinator, including email and telephone assistance. Those who completed the survey process commented that they had learned a lot and were enthusiastic about the experience. Volunteers either submitted their reports as hard copy or submitted their results through the WJC Web site.
In all, 23 surveys of diocesan or metropolitan archdioceses were completed in a "snowball sample" of the universe studied.ii Some reporters did not answer every question. There are a total of 145 Roman Catholic dioceses and 33 archdioceses in the United States in 14 regions.iii The reports come from the South, the Midwest, Northeast and Middle Atlantic, and the West Coast and Northwestern United States. Our study does not purport to be comprehensive. Nonetheless, in aggregate, it provides a snapshot of the status of women now that it has been 41 years since the church officially declared that discrimination on the basis of sex is a "sin."
We assigned grades based upon whether the benchmarks we set as ideals are actually met. In cases such as Question 1, where the ideal is 100%, the grading scale is: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; 59% and under = F. In cases where the ideal is a 50-50 representation of women, such as Question 2, the corresponding grading scale is: 45 to 50% women = A; 40-44% women = B; 35-39% women = C; 30-34 = D; 0 -29% women = F.
The report card is an aggregate of the 23 diocesan survey results. Because of an atmosphere of fear in some dioceses, we do not share the names of our volunteers and the individual diocesan reports. We are providing the volunteers the national report, and are leaving it to them to decide whether they wish to make their local diocesan reports public. Copies of the aggregated results have been emailed to all U.S. bishops.
i The worksheets used by surveyors may be downloaded from the coalition Website: http://womensjusticecoalition.org/sites/default/files/RPC_Worksheet.pdf
ii A snowball sample is drawn to obtain information from hard-to-reach populations. We reached into our own membership ranks to pull out volunteers to do the data collection in their dioceses. Our sample depended upon which volunteers agreed to do it and then actually carried it through. There were 95 people who registered as volunteers on the Women's Justice Coalition Web site. Twenty-three reports were completed.
iii This number excludes Eastern rite dioceses, which were not part of the study.