宗教社會學是運用社會學的工具和方法研究宗教的信仰、實踐和組織形式。這種客觀調查可能包括使用定量方法(調查、民意調查、人口統計和人口普查分析)和定性方法，如參與者觀察、訪談和分析檔案、歷史和文獻資料現代學術社會學始于1897年埃米爾?迪爾凱姆(Emile Durkheim)對天主教和新教人群自殺率的研究中對宗教的分析。迪爾凱姆的研究是社會研究的基礎性工作，旨在將社會學與心理學等其他學科區分開來。馬克思和韋伯的著作強調宗教與社會經濟或社會結構之間的關系。當代的辯論集中在世俗化、公民宗教以及宗教在全球化和多元文化背景下的凝聚力等問題上。當代宗教社會學也可以包括非宗教社會學(如對世俗人文主義信仰體系的分析)。宗教社會學與宗教哲學的不同之處在于，它不著手評估宗教信仰的有效性。比較多種相互沖突的教條的過程可能需要彼得·l·伯杰(Peter L. Berger)所描述的內在的“方法論無神論”。雖然宗教社會學與神學在假定對超自然現象漠不關心方面有著廣泛的不同，但理論家們傾向于承認宗教實踐的社會文化具體化。

Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use of both quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census analysis) and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials.[1]Modern academic sociology began with the analysis of religion in ?mile Durkheim's 1897 study of suicide rates among Catholic and Protestant populations, a foundational work of social research which served to distinguish sociology from other disciplines, such as psychology. The works of Karl Marx and Max Weber emphasized the relationship between religion and the economic or social structure of society. Contemporary debates have centered on issues such as secularization, civil religion, and the cohesiveness of religion in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. The contemporary sociology of religion may also encompass the sociology of irreligion (for instance, in the analysis of secular humanist belief systems).Sociology of religion is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs. The process of comparing multiple conflicting dogmas may require what Peter L. Berger has described as inherent "methodological atheism".[2] Whereas the sociology of religion broadly differs from theology in assuming indifference to the supernatural, theorists tend to acknowledge socio-cultural reification of religious practice.