Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Grønbjerg, K. A.
Right arrow Articles by Clerkin, R. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 2, 232-259 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764005275379
© 2005 ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH ON NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND VOLUNTARY ACTION

Examining the Landscape of Indiana’s Nonprofit Sector

Does What You Know Depend on Where You Look?

Kirsten A. Grønbjerg

Indiana University

Richard M. Clerkin

Indiana University

The authors examine technical aspects of surveying nonprofits to determine whether inferences about characteristics of the sector depend on how samples are selected. Using a stratified sample drawn from a comprehensive nonprofit database, they analyze how major profile features of the nonprofit sector vary by sampling source and by how broadly researchers define the sector. The results reveal significant differences in the accuracy, completeness, and response rates associated with alternative sampling sources. Nonprofits found on multiple listings respond at higher rates and are more formalized than those found on only one sampling source, and sampling sources vary in the profiles they generate for the nonprofit sector. The authors conclude that researchers who wish to generalize their findings to the full nonprofit sector should consider the list of incorporated nonprofits as a sampling frame—it is among the most efficient and produces the fewest distortions in nonprofit profile features.

Key Words: nonprofit databases • sampling frames • research methodologies


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?