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Open research questions in Religion, Society, and Development

269 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 3,126 Religion, Society, and Development papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The paper identifies the challenge of patriarchy and its influence on women's health care. It notes the challenge of limited awareness of gender-based considerations and the scarcity of studies on gender-based violence. The study highlights the challenge of implementing changes to support a more dignified treatment of women in health care.

    Healing the Divide: A Catholic Social Teaching Perspective on Women’s Health Care in the Philippines · 2026 · DOI

  • more institutional and organizational research must be performed to accurately and effectively implement changes that will support a more dignified treatment of women in health care

    Healing the Divide: A Catholic Social Teaching Perspective on Women’s Health Care in the Philippines · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of addressing health inequities in the Philippines, particularly in marginalized populations. It highlights the need to strengthen universal health coverage and expand healthcare infrastructure in underserved regions. The study emphasizes the importance of ensuring that public health programs address the social determinants of health, including poverty, nutrition, sanitation, and environmental conditions.

    The Catholic Appeal to Health: A Pastoral Analysis on the Catholic Church’s View of Health Inequity in Health Outcomes and Diseases in the Philippines · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law, with significant gaps in resource distribution and accessibility persisting. It highlights the need for more inclusive, context-sensitive, and innovative approaches to healthcare governance and delivery. The study emphasizes the importance of addressing the social determinants of health, including poverty, nutrition, sanitation, and environmental conditions.

    The Catholic Appeal to Health: A Pastoral Analysis on the Catholic Church’s View of Health Inequity in Health Outcomes and Diseases in the Philippines · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap is a lack of understanding of how educated young men in a Pentecostal church in eastern Uganda navigate their identities and contribute to the church. The paper also identifies a gap in our understanding of how these young men become 'political navigators' in church.

    Becoming “business class”: educated youth and Pentecostal change in eastern Uganda · 2024 · DOI

  • Social-justice is theorised through twelve-plus traditions distributive, capability-based, recognition-redistribution-representation, structural-injustice, intersectional, virtue-ethical, theologically grounded while advocacy spans individual to transnational scales, underscoring the theory–practice divergence; evidence of its justice-relevant outcomes remains sparse.

    Naming Justice, Practising Advocacy: A Scoping Review of Social-Justice and Social Transformation · 2026 · DOI

  • Abstract Despite the high incidence of farmer–herder conflicts in Nigeria, large-N quantitative research on the religious dimension of these conflicts remains scarce.

    Is There a Religious Dimension to Concern about Farmer–Herder Conflicts in Nigeria? · 2025 · DOI

  • Understudied was a group of Catholics who capitalized on the new situation to reconnect the Church on the mainland with the universal Catholic Church.

    Mobilization of mission trips: The case of northbound Catholics in Hong Kong · 2025 · DOI

  • Notably, the moderating role of religion produced mixed results, including a significant negative interaction between religious function and administrative policy.

    Investigating the function of religion and social capital in shaping sustainable social development · 2025 · DOI

  • However, there is a significant gap in understanding the impact of religious beliefs on this phenomenon.

    Gospel or curse: the impact of religious beliefs on energy poverty in rural China · 2024 · DOI

  • Conceptual risks when extending the rejection of 'savior mentality' beyond its proper domain. The danger of personality-based governance. The need to distinguish between governance realism and spiritual truth.

    Rejecting the Savior Mentality Without Losing the Concept of Salvation: A SISIF–APS–DTI Integrated Framework for Governance, Collective Agency, and Theological Integrity · 2026 · DOI

  • The tension between rejecting political saviorism and preserving theological accuracy. The need for a balanced framework that preserves institutional realism while maintaining theological coherence.

    Rejecting the Savior Mentality Without Losing the Concept of Salvation: A SISIF–APS–DTI Integrated Framework for Governance, Collective Agency, and Theological Integrity · 2026 · DOI

  • Overlapping roles, limited communication, and a lack of diverse staff among a few of the organisations. Stigma associated with receiving support. Difficulty in accessing coordinated support due to organisational isolation.

    Challenges and enablers of collaborative working in the voluntary, community, social, faith and enterprise sector: impact, effectiveness, and sustainability · 2026 · DOI

  • One lead organisation and their three partner organisations had overlapping roles, limited communication, and a lack of diverse staff. Some project leads and managers did not respond to requests for interviews.

    Challenges and enablers of collaborative working in the voluntary, community, social, faith and enterprise sector: impact, effectiveness, and sustainability · 2026 · DOI

  • The challenge of balancing the guarantee of religious freedom with the need to protect citizens from exploitation. The challenge of developing a robust legal framework to address the issue of religious manipulation. The challenge of addressing the root causes of religious manipulation, including socio-economic uncertainty and theological distortion.

    Religious Manipulation In Kenya Paper · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a gap in the state's ability to monitor radicalized sects that operate under the guise of constitutional protection. The current regulatory framework is inadequate to address the issue of religious manipulation.

    Religious Manipulation In Kenya Paper · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in understanding the response of Islamic and Christian institutions to terrorism and banditry. The research highlights the need for a bottom-up approach to address socio-economic grievances and integrate Faith-Based Organisation into regional security frameworks.

    Between Complexity and Resistance: Religious Institutions and the Challenge of Terrorism and Banditry in Kontagora Emirate, Niger State · 2026 · DOI

  • The study recommends that, there is need for sustained partnership between religious institutions, security agencies, and government authorities to enhance peace-building initiatives in Kontagora Emirate. Strengthening religious education, promoting interfaith harmony, and empowering youth through faith-based programs remain crucial strategies for curbing terrorism and banditry. There is also a need for religious leaders and organisations to explore and examine the level of insecurity and violence in Kontagora Emirate, through the teachings of the Holy Books and use their influence to teach, educate, mobilise, their congregation and challenge, harmful interpretations of religious texts that justify violence, as well as condemn all forms of violence, security threat posed by domestic and physical violence, gender inequality and all other forms of sufferings in Kontagora Emirate.

    Between Complexity and Resistance: Religious Institutions and the Challenge of Terrorism and Banditry in Kontagora Emirate, Niger State · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of emphasis on community-based religious practices and their potential to generate non-institutional moral authority and shape public ethics. The neglect of large-scale devotional assemblies in Muslim societies and their potential for decentralized ethics and social order.

    From Faith, Ritual, and Social Responsibility: Community-Based Public Theology in the Haul Guru Sekumpul · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the relationship between moral standing and moral community. It highlights the need for a differentiated view of moral standing.

    Moral Standing, Moral Trusteeship, and Moral Community · 2026 · DOI

  • We know less about how the faith-based dispositions of financial occupations support specific economic practices. The study aims to address this gap by exploring how the faith-based dispositions of financial occupations support specific economic practices.

    Trading in the end times: keeping faith in financial markets · 2026 · DOI

  • Such a discourse will have material consequences to some extent, although whether it is enough to reverse current trends in the asset management space as a whole is something that future research should explore in various parts of the world. Future studies could explore other economic fields and identify their theological imaginaries. This precept notwithstanding, some kind of criti- cal evaluation of active fund manager discourse is warranted here.

    Trading in the end times: keeping faith in financial markets · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of effective dialogue between the government and the Muslim community. The ambiguity regarding secularism. The institutional crises due to internal conflicts.

    The Existence of the Conseil Français de Culte Musulman in Bridging Interests of the Government and Muslim Community in France · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of deliberate social work interventions addressing witchcraft beliefs and accusations in Uganda. The paper identifies a need for social workers to address this issue.

    Addressing Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Uganda: What Can Social Workers Do? · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the understanding of the obstacles to youth involvement in church leadership. The study aims to address this gap by researching the obstacles to youth involvement in church leadership.

    Adventist Church on the Crossroad of Youth Managerial Leadership: A Study of Nyanchwa Station, South Kenya Conference · 2026 · DOI

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269 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 3,126 Religion, Society, and Development papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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