Explain the difficulties in measuring the extent of religiosity in society

Whilst religiosity can be defined in terms of the act of being religious, especially in terms of levels of beliefs, behaviour and commitment, difficulties arise with respect to defining religion and religious behaviour. Exclusive definitions would encompass religious behaviour in terms of belief in the supernatural or 'god', prayer and collective membership for example, whilst inclusive definitions draw from a broader range or practices and include any form of behaviour that may complete the essential functions of social solidarity and social integration. This, therefore, provides practical difficulties in terms of what exactly needs to be measured in order to determine the extent of religiosity. Indeed, according to Cornwall (1986), being religious can be examined across three different dimensions in terms of beliefs, commitment and practice. Thus, by having multiple dimensions, uncertainty arises with respect to what exactly is being measured. Additionally, each of the mentioned dimensions can further be broken down: beliefs can encompass believing without belonging or belonging without believing, for example. Both areas, therefore, involve high levels of personal individual value attached to them, hence arousing questions of how these could be objectively measured.