Fieldwork in Maua, Kenya

How do religious leaders, scripture, and community shape our beliefs and social norms?

In 2026, I designed and led an original survey in Maua, Meru County, Kenya, for my job market paper, Preaching Against the Choir: Religious Leaders and Reproductive Norms in Kenya, in partnership with Sodzo Kenya.

Paper Data
  • 635women surveyed
  • 17religious leaders
  • 4focus groups
  • 20enumerators trained
  • Kimerusurvey language

Study Design

Each woman heard Kendi's story, told on four picture cards: who Kendi is, her community, her religious leader, and her reflection on scripture. The community norm, the leader's stance, and the scripture passage were varied at random, so comparing answers shows how much each one shapes views on family planning.

An example of a story a survey respondent saw

Vignette Cards

Kendi

Five versions of Kendi differ in her age, marital status, and number of children.

  • 16 years old, unmarried, no children
  • 22 years old, unmarried, no children
  • 22 years old, married, no children
  • 22 years old, married, 1 child
  • 28 years old, married, 1 child

Kendi's Community

How many women in her community use family planning.

  • Almost all women use family planning
  • About half of the women use family planning
  • Almost no women use family planning

Kendi's Religious Leader

What her religious leader says about family planning.

  • Supports it as a responsible way to honor God's gift of family
  • Says nothing about it
  • Opposes it as a lack of trust in God's plan

Kendi's Reflection

The scripture passage she reflects on.

  • 1 Timothy 5:8: called to care for her children
  • No specific scripture passage
  • Genesis 1:28: called to have many children

Pebble Voting Game

Women also played a pebble game, similar to voting, with four striped bags and these picture cards.

The striped bags with the other survey materials
  • Bag 1: My preference
  • Bag 2: Scripture/God
  • Bag 3: My village
  • Bag 4: My religious leader
  • The hills near Maua
  • Looking across the valleys of Meru
  • Survey materials ready for the field
  • Enumerator training
  • Enumerators practising with the survey materials
  • A message against FGM painted on a wall in Maua
  • The Sodzo Kenya team
  • Community members gathered for a focus group
  • A focus group discussion
  • Community members gathering during the main survey
  • An interview during the main survey
  • Interviews under way on a hillside
  • An interview in the shade
  • A table banking group meeting
  • A church near Maua
  • A pharmacy near Maua
  • Farmland and trees on the hillside
  • Tall trees above the valley
  • Looking out over the plains
  • Red soil and distant hills
  • Sunrise over the plains
  • With the Sodzo Kenya field team

Where & When

Location

Map of Kenya showing Meru County and Maua Kenya with Meru County shaded and the town of Maua marked. Nairobi is marked for reference. Nairobi Maua Meru County KENYA

Timeline

  1. February–March 2026 Study Design Study and survey instruments designed
  2. June 2026 Translation Instruments translated into Kimeru
  3. July 7–8, 2026 Focus Groups 4 focus groups
  4. July 9–10, 2026 Pilot Instruments tested in a pilot
  5. July 13–31, 2026 Main Survey 635 women surveyed, with 17 religious leader interviews alongside

Support & Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, as well as the Social Sciences Research Institute, the Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship Program, and the Department of Economics at Rice University. This study was approved by the Rice University Institutional Review Board (protocol IRB-FY2026-386) and conducted in partnership with Sodzo Kenya. A big thank you to Sodzo International and their Kenya team, without whom this study would not have been possible. I am also grateful to the enumerator team and everyone around Maua who took part.