Evaluating federated voluntary associations’ membership data
An application of Benford's Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10763572 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam Chamberlain (0000-0002-9928-0529, Coastal Carolina University Conway South Carolina USA, corresponding author), Alixandra B Yanus (0000-0002-0772-7830, Department of Political Science High Point University High Point North Carolina USA) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1590-1601 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-4941 • E-ISSN: 1540-6237 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ssqu.13015 |
| OpenAlex | W3187753508 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 43 |
Objective Large, federated voluntary associations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries produced detailed reports of national meetings that included comprehensive data on state‐level membership. Though used in previous scholarship, the veracity of these data has never been evaluated. Methods We test 16 associations’ state‐level membership data, generally between 1880 and 1920, using Benford's Law, a mathematical principle used to discern whether data are potentially problematic—through error, fraud, or other reasons—and require further investigation. Results Our initial analyses reveal that these data deviate statistically from Benford's predictions. Further investigation, however, finds that these differences are not substantively significant; an aggregate measure of all associations shows close conformity to the Newcomb–Benford distribution. Conclusion The data presented in voluntary associations’ annual reports are likely trustworthy. These findings have important implications for future use of these data, other association data, and the role of associations in promoting civil society
Association (psychology) · Benford's law · Conformity · Economics · Management · Political science · Scholarship · Statistics · Trustworthiness · Turnover · Voluntary association · Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection · Law · Mathematics · Media Influence and Politics · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology
From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State
Network Nation
Bowling alone
Diminished Democracy
What a Mighty Power We Can Be
Comment on “Benford's Law and the Detection of Election Fraud”
For the Common Good
Constructing Brotherhood
An “urban voluntary association” in the rural South? Urbanity, race, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1910–1930
Expanding the energy–stability–area model
Revisiting the ESA model
Exploring the legend of a “nation of joiners”
The majority of our people belong to the working classes’
Organization Despite Adversity
Organization Despite Adversity
From Reconstruction to Reform
Monuments as Mobilization? The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Memorialization of the Lost Cause
Service Over Secrecy
Let us Live for Those Who Love Us
Environmental Limits on the Diversity of State Interest Organization Systems
Benford's Law and the Detection of Election Fraud
Close but no Cigar
The Rush to Organize
Bowling Alone
The Southern Question
Rise and Fall of a Nation of Joiners
A Nation of Organizers
The Growth of Voluntary Associations in America, 1840-1940
Women's Associations and the Enactment of Mothers' Pensions in the United States
Nineteenth-Century Women's Auxiliaries and Fraternal Orders
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |