FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND RESEARCH

RMBI Measuring What Matters.

Religion has been measured for decades. Its measurable value to members hasn't been measured like this.

The Religious Member Benefit Index compares measurable outcomes and member-access benefits associated with religious communities. Evidence from 13 research study/data families, together with national administrative data, is organized across seven research-derived dimensions to create one transparent comparative index.

7 DIMENSIONS 13 RESEARCH STUDY / DATA FAMILIES TRANSPARENT METHODOLOGY
EXPLORE RESULTS   → VIEW METHODOLOGY
THE RMBI FRAMEWORK

The 7 Dimensions of Member Benefit

Seven research-derived dimensions. Multiple national data sources. One question: what does the combined body of evidence show about measurable outcomes and member-access benefits across religious communities?

1. Volunteer Service

Measures participation in volunteering and service to others using multiple national studies and verified study composites.

2. Life / Youth Outcomes

Measures happiness, health, family-life satisfaction, education, income, and youth outcomes across qualifying research.

3. Family Stability

Measures marriage, partnership stability, and religious matching within couples using comparable national evidence.

4. Member Resources

Measures tangible resources an ordinary member can reasonably access, including welfare, education, employment, counseling, youth, and recovery support.

5. Charitable Giving

Measures religious giving, total charitable giving, and giving relative to household income.

6. Institutional Reach

Measures geographic and structural availability using national adherent, congregation, population-access, and breadth measures.

7. Religious Engagement

Measures attendance, prayer, scripture reading, religious importance, membership, and participation intensity.

EVIDENCE OVER ASSUMPTIONS

Built to Compare Measurable Member Outcomes

The Religious Member Benefit Index combines multiple national data sources to compare measurable outcomes and member-access benefits across seven research-derived dimensions.

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Dimensions

A comprehensive view of measurable member benefit.

13

Research Families

Six core scoring studies and seven supporting research families contribute evidence across the index, with U.S. Religion Census administrative data used for Institutional Reach.

360°

Member Outcomes

A multidimensional view of outcomes, resources, giving, reach, and engagement.

HOW THE RMBI WORKS

A Transparent Scoring Framework

RMBI converts unlike forms of evidence onto comparable scales, combines qualifying measures within each study and dimension, and then produces the overall comparative index. The full methodology, including normalization, weighting, missing-data treatment, evidence standards, and robustness testing, is documented separately.

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Want to see exactly how the score is built?

Review the complete calculation pipeline, scoring rules, weighting, evidence grades, and limitations on the Methodology page.

VIEW METHODOLOGY →
LOCKED RMBI RESULTS

See the Overall Result, Then Look Under the Hood

The overall score is the beginning of the story, not the end. Explore the seven dimensions, compare two religious groups directly, and inspect the standardized variables and raw evidence behind each result.

One Score Never Tells the Whole Story.

RMBI is designed to show both the overall comparison and the evidence underneath it. A community can lead overall while showing very different strengths and weaknesses across individual dimensions.

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Overall Results
Compare the publication-locked RMBI scores across groups.
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Dimension Results
See where each community performs more strongly or weakly.
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Full Transparency
Trace the score from dimension to study to standardized variable to raw evidence.
PUBLICATION-LOCKED COMPARISON

Overall RMBI Score

Overall score
Overall RMBI scores by Christian community and the religiously unaffiliated Radar chart comparing five Christian communities and the religiously unaffiliated using publication-locked overall RMBI scores. AVERAGE 52.2 25 50 75 100 Latter-day Saint 82.1 Evangelical Protestant 56.4 Roman Catholic 51.7 Mainline Protestant 50.9 Historically Black Protestant 49.8 Religiously Unaffiliated 22.3
Latter-day Saint 82.1/100
Evangelical Protestant 56.4/100
Roman Catholic 51.7/100
Mainline Protestant 50.9/100
Historically Black Protestant 49.8/100
Religiously Unaffiliated 22.3/100
Each spoke represents one Christian community or the religiously unaffiliated and plots its publication-locked overall RMBI score on the same 0–100 comparative scale. N/A evidence is excluded rather than treated as zero. RMBI scores are index values, not percentages or theological judgments.
WHY THE RMBI EXISTS

Move the Conversation From Claims to Outcomes

Religious communities make many claims about meaning, family, service, well-being, and human flourishing. RMBI asks a narrower evidence question: what measurable outcomes and member-access benefits are associated with the communities people belong to?

01

Measure Broadly

No single outcome captures the full experience of religious life. RMBI evaluates member benefit across seven distinct dimensions.

02

Compare Fairly

Communities are evaluated using consistent standards and comparable evidence rather than selective examples.

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Show the Evidence

Users should be able to see the research, understand the limitations, and judge the evidence for themselves.

“The goal is not to determine which religion is true. The goal is to compare measurable outcomes and member-access resources associated with religious communities.”

Explore the Religious Member Benefit Index

Compare measurable outcomes across communities, dimensions, and evidence.

EXPLORE THE RMBI → CONTACT →