I am neither an an ex, inactive nor present JW.  I would be interested in your research and findings though!   What an intriguing topic!

I am an economist, expertise are average in psychology, but may last report on universal values survey gave me good expertise of fundamental theories. I am good in SPSS, STATA and online survey. My main interest behind responding your post is my passion for religion related research. My dissertation was on Muslim Spirituality. 

Thats excellent. I am happy to work with both of you :). I'm not very familia with the researchgate system but i will attempt to send through a private message to your inbox so we can exchange email addresses.

Every religious  belief and practice appears to be an expression of one or more of 16 intrinsic motives, at an above-average or below-average valuation.  In order to have mass appeal, a religion must address all 16 needs at all intensities, or close to it.  It is now possible to evaluate objectively the needs addressed by each religion.  If you are interested in doing this, read my theory on "the 16 strivings for God" in the journal called zygon.  My who am I book also is highly relevant.  I think this is the only technology to do your study.

Thank you Steven.

Your sensitivity theory sounds like a reasonable framework to work with. I am curious how you test participants for each of these 16 dimensions? The only way I can acess ex-JW's is via the Internet so i am limited to either an online survey or short qualitative questions. Do you have the questions to test each of these dimensions available?

Regards,

Reece

Yes.  The assessment tool is called the Reiss Motivation Profile(r).  It is on the Internet in a number of languages.  Because of its costs, we have created a free research website for graduate students at www.16desires.com  Student with approved theses and ethics can access the site.  They should contact me directly.  The RMP is not visible on the site as is; we have to enable it.  I would do a study much more significant, such as what motivates mysticism, or comparing buddhists and christians. 

I am fine to go through the uni's ethics process but this wouldn't be a thesis, more like a chapter or a paper. I am currently working on a 2nd Ph.D so this project is more like a personal hobby, rather than a priority. I am willing to tweek the research question/direction but the primary question, I would like to answer, is why are so many people are leaving the WT org? I would like to use your 16desires.com services as a student as I would probably need to sell my car to pay the commercial cost :).

Would also like to enquire into when people leave to WT, why they are aggressive towards the organisation? This particular phenomenon seems to be unique.

A lot more people are interested in, say, what motivates mysticism or asceticism than in the WT.  There are many reasons for possible turnover, some not interesting.  Because of the number of researchers interested in motivation, we looking for an approved thesis and ethics statement to set up your study.  We need to be assured that the research will be done and that favorable results will be published.  It is work on our part enabling the test, collecting the data for you, and managing the site. We only benefit if you publish.

Yeah, I get it. I dont get anything out of it unless I publish either. This is why I dont want to overcommit to a thesis. I'm not sure how to answer my questions while focussing on mysticism.