Measuring the Role of 'the Faith Factor' in Social Change

Religion, held at arm's length by sociologists, is attracting more scholarly attention

When Ram A. Cnaan, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work, wants to find out whether religion can help save America's cities, he gets out and talks to people like Danny Cortes.

Mr. Cortes, a Baptist minister in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood of North Philadelphia, is of several minds on that subject. As an officer of Nueva Esperanza, a nonprofit

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