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The Exigent Study of Nonprofit Organizational Evolution: Illuminating Methodological Challenges and Pathways Using a Nonprofit Entrepreneurship Lens

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Abstract

The study of how nonprofits evolve is fundamental to gaining an appreciation of dynamic nonprofit organizational life, and to developing insight into how nonprofits emerge and transform over time. Using a nonprofit entrepreneurship perspective, this article highlights a number of key methodological challenges associated with the study of nonprofit entrepreneurship, including issues of identification and use of single key informants. The article also provides suggestions how to capture the often “messy” nonprofit entrepreneurship process by pointing to the need for longitudinal data, and by discussing the value of qualitative inquiry and methods.

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  1. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, 801 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Fredrik O. Andersson

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  1. Fredrik O. Andersson
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Correspondence to Fredrik O. Andersson.

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Andersson, F.O. The Exigent Study of Nonprofit Organizational Evolution: Illuminating Methodological Challenges and Pathways Using a Nonprofit Entrepreneurship Lens. Voluntas 33, 1228–1234 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00391-1

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