Unveiling Research Trends for Organizational Reputation in the Nonprofit Sector

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Public scrutiny and the need for funds in a more competitive environment are pressuring nonprofits to be more consciously...     

Success and Failure of Nonprofit Organizations: Theoretical Foundations,Empirical Evidence,and Future Research

Success and failure of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have been prominent themes in the nonprofit community for more than 30 years. However, since there is no common understanding on success and failure of NPOs, the research field is still fragmented. Drawing from research on organizational success and failure in the for-profit context as a theoretical background, this paper systemizes the academic knowledge on NPO success and failure. By shedding light on theoretical approaches used, empirical evidence on the determinants of these constructs, and the sectors analyzed most frequently in this regard, the paper develops an instructive research agenda concerning studies on success and failure of NPOs.     

Review Essay: Recent Research on Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector in India and South Asia

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Investigating the Marketization of the Nonprofit Sector: A Comparative Case Study of Two Nonprofit Organizations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - It has been well documented in recent years that nonprofits are becoming increasingly marketized. What is less well...     

The Sociology of Women's Abortion Experiences: Recent Research and Future Directions

Abortion is a common and essential reproductive healthcare procedure experienced by approximately one third of women at some time in their life. Abortion is also commonly politicised and presented in public discourse as inherently contentious or controversial. However, recent sociological research on women's experiences of abortion is relatively thin on the ground. The body of qualitative research on abortion experiences, which does exist, varies in scope and focus on a relatively limited range of themes. Building on an earlier review of qualitative research on women's abortion experiences, this paper explores the recent literature and identifies three key thematic areas: the context of abortion; reasons and decision‐making; and abortion stigma. It then goes on to identify gaps in the literature, to explore what shape a sociology of women's abortion experiences might take and to suggest future directions for sociological research.     

Trends in New Media Research: A Critical Review of Recent Scholarship

Trends in new media research are examined. These trends revolve around four dimensions, including citizen engagement, organizational innovation and adaptation, mobility and content computerization. The following article critically examines this shifting terrain in new media research and its implications for future scholarship.     

The Nomothetic-Idiographic Issue: Some Roots and Recent Trends

A review of the history of the nomothetic-idiographic issue suggests that the problem of the uniqueness of the individual is secondary in this context to that of the right approach to the study of the human person. Idiographic approaches emphasize the need for an unmutilated conceptualization of psychological processes. The requirements of this unmutilated kind of research need to be integrated with those of nomothetic science asking for the controlled gaining and analyzing of information regarding psychological processes. One form of such a kind of integration is represented by biographical studies based on semistructured interviews and a systematic qualitative and quantitative analysis of their contents. Findings from such research as especially related to developmental and personality psychology are reported here by summarizing a series of studies conducted at the University of Bonn.     

Advocacy Networks Through a Multidisciplinary Lens: Implications for Research Agendas

Advocacy networks are coalitions of movements and organizations that in recent years have gained unprecedented levels of influence through their soft power strategies. They have become key political actors in local, national and international arenas. Research on their performance and role within today’s information society has been developed by academics from different disciplines. Some of these analyses, however, seem to portray them as a new actor within an already-existing structure. This article argues that the network structure of these associations requires for a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach in order to better understand how they are changing the political and social landscape. In order to achieve this purpose, this article is divided in two parts: the first one offers an overview of existing literature on the subject from different disciplines and at different scales, while the second part puts forward a framework to consider all relevant spheres of these networks for better analyses. As will be noted in the literature review, most of the case studies have been carried out from a clear disciplinary focus with its own set of categories and focus on preferred dynamics. This approach reduces the density of the networks by portraying them as other already-known institutions. One example of this is that of scales of action, usually defined as local, national, international or transnational. By focusing solely on the arena of direct influence, other interactions that may be central to the network are thus ignored or minimized. In order to disentangle such misrepresentations, it is suggested here to consider five dimensions of analysis in the study of advocacy networks: (1) scales of action and interaction, (2) cultural contexts and legacies, (3) network logic, (4) discourse production and contestation and (5) institutional ecosystem. By considering the implications of all five of them, it is proposed here, accounts may yield more comprehensive analyses of how these webs of civil society groups are transforming the political landscape.     

Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organizations: A Research Overview

The topic of management and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) continues to fascinate scholars. This paper draws on varying theoretical perspectives to explore their respective contributions to our knowledge of NPOs. The two longstanding and contrasting disciplines of economics and sociology have contributed most, traditionally, to the study of NPOs. However, neither of these disciplines has resolved all the dilemmas associated with NPOs. The standard economic model does not apply well to the distinctive nonmarket situation of NPOs. The sociological perspectives offer interesting insight, but fail to develop plans of action for NPOs. However, both of these traditional perspectives are starting to be eclipsed by the focus on marketing research.     

The Regional Journal in Sociology: Recent Trends and Observations

We investigate the historical trajectories of several sociological journals published by regional associations, focusing our attention on one of the first regional journals published by the Pacific Sociological Association, Sociological Perspectives. We begin with a discussion of the journal’s origins and look at its professional and geographical development over time. Through a comparative-historical analysis of author affiliations of articles published in regional journals, we find geographic ties are important in shaping the early content of regional journals. However, as time passes, regional ties are stretched to include work from a broadening spectrum of regions and nations. So, while regional sociological journals do appear to maintain their original geographical connections, they also tend to expand their relative geographical influence over time.     

Disciplinary Agendas and Analytic Strategies of Research on Immigrant Transnationalism: Challenges of Interdisciplinary Knowledge

To be successful, an interdisciplinary approach to the study of immigration and transnationalism should begin by making different disciplinary languages about this phenomenon informed by mutual understanding of the conceptual frameworks, epistemological assumptions, and explanatory strategies used in research in particular academic fields. Drawing on studies in anthropology, sociology, history, and political science, I review here these taken‐for‐granted assumptions about “what is knowable and how” that underlie research on immigration and transnationalism in these disciplines. In conclusion, I suggest some avenues for mutual education in different disciplinary approaches and the epistemic gains derived therefrom.     

Recent Trends in Conservatism: Evidence of Non-Unitary Patterns

Abstract

While some theoretical models of conservatism seemingly posit it to be a relatively stable personality characteristic, such approaches do not easily explain changes in individual or societal levels of conservatism. Recent research has assumed that increasing conservatism is general and unitary. The present study uses both trend data and true longitudinal data to examine changes in three different indicators of conservatism: political-economic conservatism, sex-role traditionalism and opposition to abortion. Analyses of trend data show the direction of political-economic increases in conservatism and opposition to abortion over the fifteen-year period 1971–1986. Sex-role traditionalism decreased, however, for the first but not the latter part of the same time period. Longitudinal comparisons for three separate cohorts show similar results for the period 1975 to 1980. Not only do these findings show that all measures of conservatism fail to exhibit the same trends, but also it is demonstrated that convergence on the aggregate level is not paralleled at the individual level.     

Understanding Racial Differences in Marital Disruption: Recent Trends and Explanations

We use data from the Current Population Survey to investigate racial differences in recent patterns of marital disruption. Although a leveling in the trend of disruption has occurred for White women since 1980, our results suggest less stabilization in rates of disruption among Black women. We also observe significant differences by race in the effects of key compositional factors on the risk of marital disruption, including age at marriage, education, premarital childbearing, and region of residence. Differences in population composition with respect to these characteristics, however, cannot alone explain the overall racial gap in disruption.     

Popular Nonprofit Management Research Sources on CD-ROM

Nonprofit World 1983–1996. Madison, Wis.: Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations, 1997. $50 CD-ROM. FC Search: The Foundation Center's Database on CD-ROM, Version 2.0. New York: Foundation Center, 1997. $1,995 CD-ROM personal version.