About

Mark Chaves is the Anne Firor Scott Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Duke University, where he has been a faculty member since 2007. His academic expertise focuses on the sociology of religion, with most of his research dedicated to understanding the social organization of religion in the United States. He directs the National Congregations Study (NCS), a comprehensive survey of religious congregations conducted in 1998, 2006-07, 2012, and 2018-19, which has contributed significantly to the understanding of congregational life in the U.S. Additionally, he directed the National Survey of Religious Leaders in 2019-20. Chaves is the author of several influential books, including 'American Religion: Contemporary Trends,' 'Congregations in America,' and 'Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious Organizations.' His work often explores the intersection of religion with social and political issues, as evidenced by recent publications on clergy political actions, clergy-lay political alignment, and religious leaders' views on mental health. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.Div. from Harvard University.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law
• Anthropology
• Gender studies
• Demographic economics
• Political economy
• Social psychology
• Demography
• Geography
• Psychology
• Ethnology

Selected publications

• DESVENDANDO A NPM1 TIPO I NA LMA: O PODER DO SEQUENCIAMENTO DE NOVA GERAÇÃO

  Hematology Transfusion and Cell Therapy · 2025-10-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Relato de Caso. Evidenciar a importância do acesso ao NGS no diagnóstico de Leucemias Mieloides Agudas (LMA) com mutações definidoras não detectadas por técnicas convencionais de biologia molecular. Relato de caso clínico. Paciente JCPN, 52 anos, previamente hígido, foi encaminhado ao ambulatório de Hematologia do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) para investigação de bicitopenia. Apresentava hemoglobina de 6,2 g/dL, plaquetas de 50.000/mm 3 e leucócitos totais de 4.750/mm 3 (2.090 segmentados). Foram excluídas causas carenciais, infecciosas e reumatológicas. Diante da gravidade das citopenias e da presença de blastos em sangue periférico, procedeu-se à propedêutica medular. O mielograma mostrou infiltração por 10,5% de mieloblastos (confirmado em duas ocasiões). A imunofenotipagem evidenciou 7,3% de blastos com marcadores mieloides. O cariótipo apresentou 45,X,- Y[19]/46,XY[1]. A biologia molecular convencional não revelou alterações definidoras de LMA: NPM1, CBFB, PML-RARa, BCR-ABL (p210 e p190), FLT3-ITD/TKD e AML1-ETO foram negativos. Nesse contexto, o diagnóstico provisório foi LMA/SMD, conforme classificação WHO 2022. O paciente teve acesso ao NGS, que revelou: Mutação TKD em FLT3; Mutação em hotspot de NRAS; Mutação do tipo nonsense em WT1; Inserção frameshift no gene NPM1, subtipo I. Assim, foi estabelecido o diagnóstico definitivo de Leucemia Mieloide Aguda NPM1 mutado, com risco citogenético e molecular favorável, segundo a European Leukemia Net 2022. A mutação NPM1 tipo I não é detectável pelos testes moleculares convencionais que pesquisam apenas o subtipo A, explicando o falso-negativo inicial. O paciente foi considerado elegível para quimioterapia intensiva, atingindo remissão morfológica e doença residual mínima (DRM) negativa por citometria de fluxo já após a primeira indução. Permanece em remissão após ciclos subsequentes. O seguimento da DRM é feito exclusivamente por citometria de fluxo, uma vez que a mutação tipo I não é quantificável por PCR convencional. Apesar de disponível desde os anos 2000, o NGS ainda não é amplamente acessível no SUS, o que contribui para atrasos no diagnóstico e tratamento, afetando diretamente os desfechos clínicos. Casos de LMA com infiltração medular inferior a 20% de blastos, cariótipos sem alterações definidoras e biologia molecular negativa exigem ferramentas diagnósticas mais sensíveis, como o NGS. As mutações no gene NPM1 ocorrem em aproximadamente 30% das LMA de novo. Mais de 50 mutações diferentes já foram descritas, a maioria no éxon 11. Os subtipos mais comuns são: A (72%), B (12%) e D (4%). A mutação do tipo I, identificada neste caso, é rara e, por isso, não é reconhecida por técnicas tradicionais de PCR, dificultando tanto o diagnóstico inicial quanto o seguimento por DRM. Este caso destaca a relevância do acesso ao NGS para diagnóstico e estratificação prognóstica em LMA, especialmente em pacientes com perfil clínico e laboratorial atípico. Além disso, evidencia a limitação das metodologias convencionais na detecção e monitoramento de mutações raras, como a NPM1 tipo I. É fundamental ampliar o acesso a tecnologias diagnósticas avançadas no SUS e desenvolver métodos capazes de quantificar mutações menos comuns, a fim de otimizar o manejo e seguimento dos pacientes com Leucemia Aguda.

  PublisherDOI

• Clergy Political Actions and Agendas: New Findings from the National Survey of Religious Leaders

  Sociological Focus · 2024-06-08 · 10 citations

  article

  We use the National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) to extend prior research on clergy's political activism and agendas. We find that christian clergy engage in political cue giving at similar rates across religious traditions, though evangelical clergy are less likely than other clergy to engage in direct action. Regarding issue priorities, evangelical clergy focus almost exclusively on a moral reform agenda, with a particular focus on abortion. Both mainline Protestant and Black Protestant clergy often address a social justice agenda, but Black Protestant clergy tend to focus more on community empowerment while mainline Protestant clergy tend to pursue social justice activism that seeks to transcend class and national boundaries. Catholic clergy are more likely than others to advance a wide range of issues. Taken together, these findings update and extend our knowledge about clergy political activities, broadening the traditional two-agenda characterization of clergy political agendas into a four-agenda account.

  PublisherDOI

• Clergy Political Actions and Agendas: New Findings from the National Survey of Religious Leaders

  2023-08-25

  preprintOpen access

  We build on prior research about clergy’s political activities and agendas by using the National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL), a nationally representative survey of leaders of American religious congregations conducted in 2019-20. We find that clergy remain highly engaged in several kinds of political activities focused on a variety of issues, with substantial differences across religious traditions. Christian clergy all engage in political cue giving at similar rates. Catholic, Black Protestant, and mainline Protestant clergy typically engage in both cue giving and direct action, while evangelical clergy are much less likely than other clergy to engage in direct action. Regarding clergy issue priorities, evangelical clergy focus almost exclusively on a moral reform agenda, with a particular focus on abortion. Both mainline Protestant and Black Protestant clergy often address a social justice agenda, but Black Protestant clergy tend to focus more on community empowerment while mainline Protestant clergy are more likely than others to pursue social justice activism that seeks to transcend class and national boundaries. Catholic clergy are more likely than others to advance a wide range of issues. Taken together, these findings update and extend our knowledge about clergy political activities, broadening the traditional two-agenda characterization of clergy political agendas into a four-agenda account.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• US Religious Leaders’ Views on the Etiology and Treatment of Depression

  JAMA Psychiatry · 2023-01-11 · 19 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Importance: Religious leaders commonly provide assistance to people with mental illness, but little is known about clergy views regarding mental health etiology and appropriate treatment. Objective: To assess the views of religious leaders regarding the etiology and treatment of depression. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used the National Survey of Religious Leaders, which is a nationally representative survey of leaders of religious congregations in the United States, with data collected from February 2019 to June 2020. Data were analyzed in September and October 2022. Main Outcomes and Measures: Views about causes of depression (chemical imbalance, genetic problem, traumatic experience, demon possession, lack of social support, lack of faith, and stressful circumstances) and appropriate treatments (seeing a mental health professional, taking prescribed medication, and addressing the situation through religious activity). Results: The analytic sample was limited to congregations' primary leaders (N = 890), with a 70% cooperation rate. Clergy primarily endorsed situational etiologies of depression, with 93% (95% CI, 90%-96%) endorsing stressful circumstances, 82% (95% CI, 77%-87%) endorsing traumatic experiences, and 66% (95% CI, 59%-73%) endorsing lack of social support. Most clergy also endorsed a medical etiology, with 79% (95% CI, 74%-85%) endorsing chemical imbalance and 59% (95% CI, 52%-65%) endorsing genetics. A minority of clergy endorsed religious causes: lack of faith (29%; 95% CI, 22%-35%) or demon possession (16%; 95% CI, 10%-21%). Almost all of the religious leaders who responded to the survey would encourage someone with depressive symptoms to see a mental health professional (90%; 95% CI, 85%-94%), take prescribed medication (87%; 95% CI, 83%-91%), and address symptoms with religious activity (84%; 95% CI, 78%-89%). A small but nontrivial proportion endorsed a religious cause of depression without also endorsing chemical imbalance (8%; 95% CI, 5%-12%) or genetics (20%; 95% CI, 13%-27%) as a likely cause. A similar proportion would encourage someone exhibiting depressive symptoms to engage in religious treatment without also seeing a mental health professional (10%; 95% CI, 5%-14%) or taking prescribed medication (11%; 95% CI, 8%-15%). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional survey, the vast majority of clergy embrace a medical understanding of depression's etiology and treatment. When clergy employ a religious understanding, it most commonly supplements rather than replaces a medical view, although a nontrivial minority endorse only religious interpretations. This should encourage greater collaboration between medical professionals and clergy in addressing mental health needs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Clergy-lay political (mis)alignment in 2019–2020

  Politics and Religion · 2023-07-21 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We use data from the new and nationally representative National Survey of Religious Leaders, supplemented with the 2018 General Social Survey, to examine the extent to which clergy are politically aligned with people in their congregations. Two assessments of alignment—clergy reports of how their political views compare to the political views held by most people in their congregations, and comparisons between clergy and lay voting preferences in the 2016 election—yield the same findings. Clergy in Black Protestant and predominantly white evangelical churches are much more likely to be politically aligned with their people than are Catholic or, especially, white mainline Protestant clergy, who often are more liberal than their people. Contrary to media reports suggesting that evangelical clergy are now likely to be less conservative than their people, the vast majority are either politically aligned with, or more conservative than, their members.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The National Survey of Religious Leaders: Background, Methods, and Lessons Learned in the Research Process

  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2022-09-01 · 29 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract The National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) is a new survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,600 clergy from across the religious spectrum. Conducted in 2019–2020, the NSRL contains a wealth of information about congregations’ religious leaders and provides a rich new resource for answering a wide range of questions about clergy who serve congregations. We describe NSRL methods so that analysts will be equipped to use this complex dataset. Aiming to deepen understanding of the research process, we also describe several challenges we encountered while pursuing this project, our responses to those challenges, and what we learned from confronting them.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Religious Congregations’ Technological and Financial Capacities on the Eve of the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Review of Religious Research · 2021-11-02 · 24 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically upended religious life and placed significant strain on religious congregations. However, the effects of the pandemic were likely not felt evenly across the religious landscape. Purpose: We used data from the fourth wave of the National Congregations Study, gathered on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic in 2018-19, to identify the kinds of congregations that may have been especially vulnerable to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using bivariate and multiple regression analysis, we examined two aspects of congregations' preparedness for the pandemic: technological infrastructure and financial stability. Results: We found that, while many congregations were technologically and financially equipped for a time of social distancing and economic recession, there were stark inequalities in levels of preparedness among congregations on the basis of race, class, size, urban/rural location, religious tradition, and the age of congregations' parishioners. In particular, Catholic congregations and congregations with older attendees tended to lack streaming or online communication capacities, and both rural and small congregations had more limited technological infrastructure and less financial cushion. Somewhat surprisingly, predominantly Black congregations were more likely to have worship streaming systems set up prior to the pandemic, though these congregations were more likely to lack other kinds of technological and financial infrastructure. Conclusions and Implications: Though COVID-19's full impact on congregations will not be known for several years, these results highlight variations in congregations' readiness for the pandemic's challenges, and they show that COVID-19's impact likely has not been felt equally across the religious landscape.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Racial Diversity in U.S. Congregations, 1998–2019

  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2020 · 64 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Sociology

  Abstract Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic group comprises more than 80 percent of the people, congregations’ average diversity level has increased, and the percentage of all‐white congregations has declined. Nearly a quarter of evangelical churches now have no one ethnic group constituting more than 80 percent of the people, a rate comparable to what we observe among Catholic churches. Moreover, congregations that meet this 80‐percent threshold are more likely to be led by black clergy in 2019 than they were in 1998. We end with a note of caution about concluding that diverse congregations necessarily promote racial justice.

  PublisherDOI

• Introducing the Fourth Wave of the National Congregations Study

  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2020 · 32 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Sociology

  Abstract The fourth wave of the National Congregations Study (NCS‐IV) was conducted in 2018–2019 with a nationally representative sample of congregations from across the religious spectrum. The NCS‐IV included a fresh cross‐section of congregations generated in conjunction with the 2018 General Social Survey and a panel of congregations that participated in the third NCS wave. Data were collected via a 65‐minute interview with one key informant from 1,262 congregations. The cooperation rate was 74 percent; the conservatively calculated response rate was 69 percent. Information was gathered about multiple aspects of congregations’ social composition, structure, activities, leadership, and programming. Approximately two‐thirds of the NCS‐IV questionnaire replicates items from previous NCS waves. This introduction to the NCS‐IV symposium describes NCS‐IV methodology and special features of the new data. The three symposium articles present NCS‐IV results about congregations’ political activities, racial and ethnic composition, and worship practices.

  PublisherDOI

• The Political Mobilization of America's Congregations

  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · 2020 · 26 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Political Science

  Abstract We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), including data from the fourth wave, to describe congregations’ political activity in 2018–2019, and to examine change in that activity since 1998. Congregations have become more politically mobilized since 1998, with the majority of congregations (56 percent) engaged in at least one of the political activities asked about in 2018–2019. Black Protestant congregations in particular experienced a surge in political activity since 2012, and congregations with politically liberal convictions or in traditions with more immigrant members have substantially increased their advocacy on behalf of immigrants in recent years. Overall, since 2012 and possibly since 1998, the political mobilization of congregations on the left has increased more than political mobilization of congregations on the right. We also find that 4 percent of (overwhelmingly Catholic) congregations have declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, and a surprisingly large minority (17 percent) of congregations would publicly endorse or oppose political candidates if doing so would not put their tax status at risk. Ironically, in light of the support for this tax law change among conservative leaders, African American and politically liberal congregations are by far most likely to publicly endorse a candidate if they could.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Elizabeth A. Moffatt

  Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

  8 shared

• Thomas Armbruster

  Regensburg University of Applied Sciences

  8 shared

• Crickette Sanz

  Washington University in St. Louis

  8 shared

• Igor Pekov

  8 shared

• Dan Yu

  Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University

  8 shared

• R. Paniago

  Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

  8 shared

• M Ruiz-Cruz

  8 shared

• Rudolf Kampf

  Institute of Technology and Business

  8 shared