Provided is a method for receiving data in a receiver that performs decoding using a non-binary Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code. The method includes generating a message vector for each symbol by demodulating received data; determining data characteristics and channel characteristics of the received data; determining the number of vector elements to be used for decoding among vector elements of the message vector using at least one of the data characteristics and the channel characteristics; and selecting vector elements according to the determined number of vector elements, and decoding the received data using the selected vector elements.