Abstract
With the growth of third sector research, the field needs more dedicated discussion on how we study the third sector, not only the decisions in research design or data collection process but also the general research approaches and the way we analyze the data. In this introduction to the special issue of Voluntas Volume I, we discuss how the sector can foster a more inclusive and diverse research community for people, topics, and methods. We also discuss the implications of methodological pluralism, an organizing principle of a research community that fosters respect, appreciation, and empathy between its members. We conclude by calling for more empathetic, transparent, and accountable research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For example, the perceived gender of an author based on a name, or a picture can lead to strong assumptions on presenting identity.
Thank you to the anonymous reviewer who rightfully pointed out such limit.
References
Andersson, F. (2021). The exigent study of nonprofit organizational evolution: Illuminating methodological challenges and pathways using a nonprofit entrepreneurship lens. Voluntas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00391-1
Beaton, E. (2021). Ethnography: Tales of the nonprofit field. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00394-y
Beugelsdijk, S., van Witteloostuijn, A., & Meyer, K. E. (2020). A new approach to data access and research transparency (DART). Journal of International Business Studies, 51, 887–905. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00323-z
Breeze, B. (2021). Interviewing elite donors: Gaining access, developing rapport and dealing with the dazzle. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00390-2
Chadwick, A., Fadel, B., & Millora, C. (2021). Ethnographies of volunteering: Providing Nuance to the links between volunteering and development. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00389-9
Cheng, Y., & Choi, J. H. (2021). Dealing with endogeneity to understand the societal impact of the third sector: Why should we care and what can we do about It? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00417-8
Clifford, J. (1997). Four northwest coast museums: Travel reflections. Routes: Travel and translation in the late twentieth century (pp. 107–146). Harvard University Press.
Coule, T. M., Dodge, J., & Eikenberry, A. M. (2022). Toward a typology of critical nonprofit studies: A literature review. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 51(3), 478–506.
Dodge, J., Eikenberry, A. M., & Coule, T. M. (2021). Illustrating the value of critical methodologies through third-sector gender studies: A case for pluralism. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00425-8
Freeman, T.M., & Williams-Pulfer, K. N. (2021). Liberating the archive, emancipating philanthropy: Philanthropic archival layering as a critical historical approach for researching voluntary action in marginalized communities. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00402-1
Fulton, B. R., & Baggetta, M. (2021). Observing civic engagement: Using systematic social observation to study civil society organization convenings. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00418-7
Gazley, B. (2021). The systematic literature review: Advantages and applications in nonprofit scholarship. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00410-1
Hagan, J. (2021). The pitfalls and potential of participant-observation: Ethnographic enquiry in volunteering. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00421-y
Jacobs, A., Büthe, T., Arjona, A., Arriola, L., Bellin, E., Bennett, A., & Yashar, D. (2021). The qualitative transparency deliberations: Insights and implications. Perspectives on Politics, 19(1), 171–208. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592720001164
Kingston, K. L., Luke, B., Furneaux, C., & Alderman, L. (2021). A reflection on critical methodology: Accountability and beneficiary participative evaluation in third sector research. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00395-x
Litofcenko, J., Karner, D., & Maier, F. (2020). Methods for classifying nonprofit organizations according to their field of activity: A report on semi-automated methods based on text. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 31, 227–237.
Ma, J., & Konrath, S. (2018). A century of nonprofit studies: Scaling the knowledge of the field. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29, 1139–1158.
McConville, D., & Cordery, C. (2021). Not-for-profit performance reporting: A reflection on methods, results and implications for practice and regulation. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00411-0
Medin, D., Ojalehto, B., Marin, A., & Bang, M. (2017). Systems of (non-)diversity. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 0088. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0088
Miller-Stevens, K., Benevento-Zahner, Z., L’Esperance, G., & Taylor, J. (2021). Assessing multidimensional approaches to measure program outcomes in human service organizations. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00422-x
Morey, M. (2021). White philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation’s an American Dilemma and the making of a white world order. The University of North Carolina Press.
Nirello, L., & Prouteau, L. (2018). The French nonprofit sector: A literature review. Voluntaristics Review, 3(2), 1–79. https://doi.org/10.1163/24054933-12340023
Onyx, J. (2021). Methods in the third sector: Collective memory-work in a complexity framework. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00405-y
Pratt, M. G., Sarah, K., & Richard, W. (2020). Editorial essay: The Tumult over transparency: Decoupling transparency from replication in establishing trustworthy qualitative research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(1), 1–19.
Ramsay, G., Narain, N., & Bhanjdeo, A. (2022). Inquiring Systems, and development led inquiry: Uniting the efforts of farmers, development professionals, and researchers. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00465-8
Salamon, L. M., Haddock, M. A., & Toepler, S. (2022). Conceptualizing, measuring, and theorizing the third sector: Embedding statistical and methodological developments awaiting broader scholarly take-up. Voluntas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00468-5
Searing, E. A. M., & Berkovich, Z. (2021). The importance of methodological pluralism in nonprofit finance. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00419-6
Schnable, A., DeMattee, A. J., Robinson, R. S., Brass, J. N., & Longhofer, W. (2021). The multi-method comprehensive review: Synthesis and analysis when scholarship is international, interdisciplinary, and immense. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00388-w
Tello-Rozas, S., Michaud, V., & Rhéaume, J. (2021). What’s your history? Methodological prospects and challenges of using life-history narratives as an alternative method to assess nonprofits’ impacts. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00408-9
Vucetic, S. (2011). A genealogy of a racialized identity in international relations. Stanford University Press.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the editors at Voluntas, particularly Susan Appe who has supported this project since its inception. We want to recognize all the authors for their contributions and appreciate their patience with this project that initially started at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the loss of Dr. Salamon; it was an honor for us to work with him and have his contribution as well as his colleagues included in this special issue.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Authors are listed alphabetically and have contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, M., Raggo, P. Taking Stock on How We Research the Third Sector: Diversity, Pluralism, and Openness. Voluntas 33, 1107–1113 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00548-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00548-6