Framing the identity of Catholic schools: empirical methodology for quantitative research on the Catholic identity of an education institute

Abstract In this article, a new empirical methodology is presented aimed at framing the religious aspects of the identity structure of Catholic educational organisations. Under the auspices of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, Australia, we developed three theoretical models into handy research instruments that allow us to quantify an organisation's confessional identity in a statistically responsible way: the Post-critical Belief Scale, the Melbourne Scale, and the Victoria Scale. After interpreting the results, it is possible to give recommendations concerning the policy steps aimed at a further development and enhancement of Catholic institutional identity. The normative framework of this research is the ideal of the recontextualisation of Catholic identity, based on dialogue with plurality and a symbolic understanding of religion. These empirical instruments are being integrated into an automated Web platform that will allow Catholic institutes to do autonomous research on the religious aspects of their collective identity.