Date of Award:

5-2026

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Computer Science

Committee Chair(s)

Seth Poulsen

Committee

Seth Poulsen

Committee

Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Committee

Patrick Mason

Abstract

Religion, including reading from religious texts such as scriptures, are a part of the daily lives of many people. Modern technology has influenced the way that this religious reading takes place, but its effects have not yet been studied. Existing research of the effects of technology on reading focus on topics such as reading comprehension, but the study of religious texts is often focused on achieving a religious experience, so the existing research does not capture the whole scope of these changes. In our study, we surveyed two universities (Utah State University and Abilene Christian University) to ask individuals how they use technology in their personal study of religious texts and religious education courses. As our respondents were predominately Christian, our findings are primarily applicable to Christian populations. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results of this survey, we aim to learn how technology interacts with the study of religious texts, including in which situations technology is preferred over paper, and vice versa, and why individuals choose the medium they do for a specific task while studying. In particular, we have found that paper scriptures are still widely used, despite commonly available digital alternatives, and that individuals tended to use different mediums for different tasks rather than sticking to one preferred medium.

Download

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .