The academic study of religion is an interdisciplinary field, putting language studies, art, history, philosophy, anthropology, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, comparative literature and literary studies, cultural studies, gender and ethnic studies, legal studies, and other approaches in order to better understand, compare, interpret, and analyze those beliefs, practices, traditions, communities, artifacts, and other phenomena we call "religious."
This means there can be multiple perspectives or lenses that can be used to investigate "religious" topics, some of which may conflict with each other. This also means that there is seldom one "right way," or single place where one can conduct their research. We have to consider which disciplinary perspectives we want to bring into the conversation, and at the same time, which we exclude.