Margaret M. Poloma (born August 27, 1943) is an American sociologist, professor, and author who is known for her research on the Pentecostal movement in American Christianity. Poloma began her career as a sociologist with her research on two-careerPoloma, Margaret M. and T. Neal Garland. 1971. "The Married Professional Woman: A Study in the Tolerance of Domestication." Journal of Marriage and the Family, 33:531-540. Reprinted in Jerome Rabow (ed.), Sociology, Students, and Society. Goodyear Publishing (1972): 201-211. and child-free couples.Nason, Ellen Mara and Margaret M. Poloma. 1976. Voluntarily Childless Couples: The Emergence of a Variant Lifestyle. (Sage Paper 90-042). Early in her career she wrote on contemporary sociological theory,Poloma, Margaret M. 1979. Contemporary Sociological Theory. Macmillan Publishing. before shifting her focus to the sociology of religion.
As a sociologist of religion, Poloma has used her personal experiences as a charismatic Roman Catholic as inspiration various research projects.Poloma, The Assemblies of God at the crossroads (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1989): xi and 254.Poloma, Margaret M. 2012. “Sociology, Philosophy and the Empirical Study of Godly Love.” Pp. 157-82 in Matthew T. Lee and Amos Yong (eds.) The Science and Theology and Godly Love. NIU Press: DeKalb, IL. See also Poloma 2010 . “Is Integrating Spirit and Sociology Possible? A Postmodern Research Odyssey.” In Smith, James K.A. and Amos Yong (ed.) “Science and Spirit: Pentecostal Engagements. Indiana University Press. Poloma has written extensively about religious experience in contemporary American society, including studies of prayer, Pentecostalism, contemporary revivals and divine healing. Much of this work has focused on diverse Pentecostal spiritualities (i.e., denominational Pentecostal, charismatic, Third Wave, neo-Pentecostal, etc.), as reported in Charismatic Movement; The Assemblies of God at the Crossroad; Main Street Mystics;Poloma, 2003. Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and RevivingPentecostalism. AltaMira Press. Walnut Creek, CA. 2003. Blood and Fire (with psychologist Ralph W. Hood); and The Assemblies of God (with political scientist John C. Green).
Poloma's research on prayer (cf., Varieties of Prayer with eminent statistician George H. Gallup Jr.) served as a bridge between Pentecostal spirituality and common spiritual experiences of American Christians through data collected in two national surveys.See M. M. Poloma and B. F Pendleton, 1990. "Religious Domains and General Well-Being." Social Indicators, 22:255-276 and Poloma and Pendleton, 1991. Exploring Neglected Dimensions of Religion in Quality of Life Research. The Edwin Mellen Press. Lewiston, N.Y.
Bibliography Contemporary sociological theory, Macmillan, 1979, , The Assemblies of God at the crossroads: charisma and institutional dilemmas, Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1989, , Varieties of prayer: a survey report, co-author with George Gallup, Jr., Trinity Press International, 1991, , Main street mystics: the Toronto blessing and reviving Pentecostalism, Rowman Altamira, 2003, , Blood and fire: Godly love in a Pentecostal emerging church, co-author with Ralph W. Hood, NYU Press, 2008, , A Sociological Study of the Great Commandment in Pentecostalism: The Practice of Godly Love As Benevolent Service, co-author with Matthew T. Lee and Stephen G. Post, Edwin Mellen Press, 2009, ,
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