On Developing Comparative Nonprofit-Sector Theory
A Reply to Steinberg and Young, and Ragin
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12249786 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lester M Salamon (0000-0003-4686-8940, corresponding author), Helmut K Anheier |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 271-281 |
| Publication date | 1998-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Voluntas Revista Internacional de Filosofia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2179-3786 • E-ISSN: 1573-7888 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1023/a:1022014418732 |
| OpenAlex | W81012562 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 7 |
Responding to comments on “Social Origins of Civil Society, ” an article published in this issue of Voluntas, this article focuses on three critical issues that underlie cross-national theory building and theory testing in the field of nonprofit studies: the issue of definitions, the challenge of operationalizing key theoretical concepts, and the nature of the tests available to verify results. Regarding the first, the article defends the structural-operational definition used in The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project against suggestions by the commentators that it either be expanded or narrowed, arguing that the alternative is either to broaden the focus beyond what is manageable or to make the basic yardstick vulnerable to changing political and policy shifts—a sure prescription for confusion. Regarding the question of operationalization, the article concedes that better measures of some key features of prevailing theories might be imaginable, but, since few of these are available, it cautions against letting the best become the enemy of the good in cross-national nonprofit theory testing. Finally, the article finds, in suggestions that multivariate techniques be used in testing various nonprofit theories, confirmation of its central argument that a contextual analysis of the sort embodied in the authors’ “social origins” approach is needed to come to terms with the reality of the nonprojit sector cross-nationally. Taken together these comments underline the need to continue the land of systematic data gathering and theory testing that the authors have undertaken, to utilize an interdisciplinary approach, and to link the study of the nonprofit sector to social analysis more generally
Argument (complex analysis · Economics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Law and economics · Operationalization · Political science · Positive economics · Public relations · Sociology · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social Capital and Networks
Welfare Mix as a Contested Terrain
Charitable Giving in Times of Covid-19
NGO research program
Where Does My Money Go? How Online Comments on a Donation Campaign Influence the Perceived Trustworthiness of a Nonprofit Organization
History and the non‐profit sector
Comparative Civil Society and Third Sector Research in Voluntas
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,32 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2023 (17) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |