Data Gathering and Analysis Data were gathered and centralized through Partners for Sacred Places . Partners employees reviewed the data and flagged potential errors , logical doubts , and misstatements . These cases were verified with the people who provided the data and the numbers were revised if needed . Careful review of all submitted questionnaires prevented Partners from using erroneous , inflated , or underreported data . In one or two cases with key missing data , such as congregation size or operating budget , congregational level data from the United Methodist Church General Council on Finance and Administration reports were used .
Once data were collected and verified , the designated Partners staff entered them into a spreadsheet . Here , the raw data were translated into dollar values based on the methodology used in previous studies and the updates provided by UNC Charlotte .
Data collected were aggregated by researchers at the Institute , who then analyzed it to create an overall valuation estimate and estimates for the six key Halo categories . Data were combined and summary statistics were computed in R and Microsoft Excel . the Covid-19 pandemic , interviews were conducted via videoconferencing or telephone . Given the comprehensiveness of the data gathered most congregations could not provide everything needed on the first visit . In these cases , additional emails , phone-calls or video conferences were made to complete the data collection .
Conservative Approach in Applying Valuation Methodology When an interviewee could not provide a numerical response to a particular question or category , researchers assigned a value of zero , even if the real value was obviously higher . For example , if the interviewee could not provide data on the number of people who attended weddings in the past year , it was assigned a value of zero . This ensures that in cases of uncertainty , the economic impact would not be overstated .
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