The Liberal-Conservative (LIBCON) scale is a seven-point semantic differential scale that has been widely used to measure identity within the Church of England. The history of the development of liberalism in the Church of England suggests that this scale should be associated with specific beliefs and attitudes related to doctrine, moral issues and church practices. This study tests this idea among a sample of 9339 lay and ordained readers of the Church Times (the main newspaper of the Church of England) using twelve summated rating scales measuring a range of beliefs and attitudes. Of these twelve variables, eleven were correlated with the LIBCON scale. Discriminant function analysis produced a linear function of these variables that correctly identified 35% of respondents on the scale, and 69% to within one scale score. The best predictors were scales related to either doctrine or moral issues, and these performed consistently across traditions (Anglo-catholic, Broad church or Evangelical) and between clergy and laity. Scales related to church practices suggested ‘conserving tradition’ was also involved in the liberal-conservative dimension, but this was less so for clergy and for Evangelicals. The scale is commended as an empirical measure of one dimension of Church of England identities, especially if used alongside a parallel scale measuring church tradition.

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自由保​​守量表衡量什么？英国教会神职人员和平信徒的研究

自由保​​守派 (LIBCON) 量表是一种七点语义差异量表，已被广泛用于衡量英格兰教会内部的身份。英格兰教会自由主义发展的历史表明，这个量表应该与与教义、道德问题和教会实践相关的特定信仰和态度相关联。本研究使用 12 个衡量一系列信仰和态度的综合评分量表，在 9339 名《教会时报》（英格兰教会的主要报纸）的平信徒和按立读者样本中测试了这一想法。在这 12 个变量中，有 11 个与 LIBCON 量表相关。判别函数分析产生了这些变量的线性函数，在量表上正确识别了 35% 的受访者，在一个量表分数内正确识别了 69%。最好的预测指标是与教义或道德问题相关的量表，这些量表在传统（盎格鲁天主教、广泛教会或福音派）以及神职人员和平信徒之间表现一致。与教会实践相关的量表表明，“保守传统”也涉及自由保守主义的维度，但对于神职人员和福音派教徒来说则不然。该量表被誉为英格兰教会身份的一个维度的经验衡量标准，尤其是与衡量教会传统的平行量表一起使用时。但对于神职人员和福音派信徒来说，情况就不是这样了。该量表被誉为英格兰教会身份的一个维度的经验衡量标准，尤其是与衡量教会传统的平行量表一起使用时。但对于神职人员和福音派信徒来说，情况就不是这样了。该量表被誉为英格兰教会身份的一个维度的经验衡量标准，尤其是与衡量教会传统的平行量表一起使用时。