The Sociology of Religion is one of the research disciplines at the Faculty of Theology. The discipline’s task is to study the mutual relations between religion and society and ask how religion has an effect on and is affected by surrounding society. The formation, development and retreat of religious institutions is seen in relation to changes in surrounding society. The processes of religious change which can be seen in Sweden are interpreted in a European and global perspective, where the contemporary retreat and return of religion is tested in relation to different social and cultural conditions. Even relations between the values of individuals and groups and religious behaviour and understanding is studied in relation to changes in society and culture. The study of these questions is carried out in relation to theories and methods within current social scientific research (sociology, psychology, pedagogics), but also to methods and theories present at the Department of Theology in Uppsala such as worldviews research, research in gender theory and research connected to the disciplines of Ecclesiology, Church history and Studies of Mission. The Sociology of Religion is in this way a broad discipline within the studies of religion which houses social scientific, theological and gender theoretical perspectives and research methods.