CHAPTER VI THE SURVEY OF THE CHURCH AND Table-Forms OF A COMMUNITY After all the individual church and religious education plants of the community have been scored and the final scores obtained from the three scorers as described in the preceding chapter, it is then possible to make the study of the building situation for the entire community. In many ways this view of the entire community will be largely influenced by several particular churches which are either particularly good or conspicuously inadequate. Often the real situation, in other words the situation existing in a majority of the churches, is not revealed unless it is shown by several effective tables or easily read charts. Much care must be exercised by the surveyors in preparing this section of their report, because it is very easy to create false impressions, arouse local jealousies, and engender opposition to the work being undertaken if the statistics used in this section are not accurately handled. As a means of safeguarding against this danger, a number of forms for tables and charts which have been found to be highly satisfactory in other surveys are presented in this chapter; and it is strongly recommended that the surveyor make use of them. If these table-forms are used, they will insure a more uniform interpretation of local conditions and will very greatly facilitate the assembling of the results of community surveys into tables showing the situation in the state and the nation. Assembling Scores of a City's Church Plants After the final scores are secured and recorded on Table III for the individual church plants, it is desirable that the final median scores for the major items and the literal subdivisions be copied from columns 3 and 2 of Table III to a column of Table IV shown on page 75, and with the name of the church written at the head of the column. If more than twenty buildings are to be recorded, it is desirable that two sheets of Table IV be pasted together since this becomes a table of reference from which most of the other tables are taken. The value of this table is that it gives the scores for all the churches on the major items and the literal subdivision in such a way that the scores for any item are in a horizontal column and hence readily accessible. This table is too large and involved to be readily interpreted or to show clearly the situation in the community. Several smaller forms are more desirable for this purpose. Forms for these purposes will be given and described; and, as the situation demands, any or all of them may be used. Means of Showing Groups and Tendencies A distribution made upon Table V, which appears on page 77, not only shows the median adequacy of the church plants, and the range of variation from that median, but it also shows how the score-card tends to separate church plants roughly into groups. Table V is also very convenient for showing the general situation in several communities. The number of columns may be increased to equal the number of communities to be compared and each column headed with the name of the city or county which it represents. Another useful table to show the total situation for any desired items is given in Table VI, on page 78, showing the number of churches which fall within each quartile of the possible score in the items considered. The value of this table is that it may be expanded or contracted to include whatever items are desired. Another value is Table VI.-A Table Showing the Degree of Adequacy Church and Religious Education (Give Number) Plants of ..... (City and State) as Indicated by the Per Cent. of the Total Possible Score Received for Those Items. Number and Per Cent. of Plants whose Scores Fall in each quartile |