Research Results:
Paper Abstracts

Examinging the Landscape of Indiana's Nonprofit Sector:
Does What You Know Depend on Where You Look?

Kirsten A. Grønbjerg and Richard M. Clerkin

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 34 (June, No. 2): 232-59. Copyright © 2005 by Sage Publications, Inc. Abstract reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc. Revised version of paper presented under slightly different titles at Annual Conference of the Academy of Management, New Orleans, LA., August 8-11, 2004 and the Annual Meetings of ARNOVA, November 18-20, 2003, Denver, Colorado.

Abstract

We 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, we analyze how major profile features of the nonprofit sector vary by sampling source and by how broadly researchers define the sector. We find significant differences in the accuracy, completeness, and response rates associated with alternative sampling sources and that nonprofits found on multiple listings respond at higher rates and are more formalized than those found on only one sampling source. We also find that sampling sources vary in the profiles they generate for the nonprofit sector. We 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.