Results

Research Papers

Baggetta, Matthew, Bredenkamp, David. 2019. "Systematic Social Observation in the Study of Civil Society Organizations" Sociological Methods & Research

Scholars of civil society organizations (CSOs) have long been concerned with face-to-face interactions among participants at meetings, events, and activities—what we collectively call “convenings.” Small-N ethnographies have uncovered substantial differences in the dynamics of convenings within and across CSOs. Large-N quantitative techniques, however, capture little data on convening dynamics; instead, they rely on questionable proxy measures. How much do dynamics vary across CSO convenings? New research tools are needed to answer this question. We adapt systematic social observation (SSO) to the study of CSO convenings as one such tool. SSO uses trained, independent observers and carefully constructed protocols and forms to collect detailed, standardized, quantitative data from many settings. Here, we illustrate what SSO can capture beyond conventional quantitative approaches using data from a pilot study of collegiate CSO convenings. We argue that SSO data can improve on prior quantitative findings about CSOs and extend research in new directions.

Baggetta, Matthew, Brad R. Fulton. 2021. "Observing Civic Engagement: Using Systematic Social Observation to Study Civil Society Organization Convenings" Voluntas

What happens at convenings held by community-based civil society organizations and how do they influence organizational outcomes? Although ethnographies provide details about organizations’ internal dynamics, they offer limited insights into the distribution of those dynamics and their impact on outcomes. This article describes systematic social observation and explains how we adapted this method to CSOs for collecting data on multiple convenings from several organizations. To demonstrate the method’s viability, we digitized our SSO tool and used it in a pilot study of three CSOs in Indianapolis to collect observational data from 99 convenings. We illustrate the value of SSO for studying CSOs by presenting distributions of interaction styles and cross-demographic interaction across organizations. We note how such data could be combined with survey and administrative data to analyze the impact of CSOs internal dynamics on organizational outcomes. We conclude by discussing the broader utility and limitations of the SSO method for research on CSOs and the third sector.

Baggetta, Matthew, Brad R. Fulton, Caplan, Zoe. 2022. "Space and Interaction in Civil Society Organizations: An Exploratory Study in a US City" Social Inclusion

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are sites for creating and strengthening social ties among participants. Ties are developed when participants in CSO convenings (meetings, events, activities) interact, but convenings vary in the amount of interaction they generate. Theory and research suggest that the physical spaces where convenings occur may impact participant interaction. However, previous methods lack sufficient scale to formally test related hypotheses. We introduce a method for collecting data at scale to examine how CSO convening spaces influence social interaction. The method—systematic social observation (SSO)—assembles comparable, quantitative data from many CSO convenings. As part of an exploratory study, we collected data from 99 CSO convenings from three organizations in Indianapolis, Indiana. For illustrative purposes, building on theories of spatial propinquity and configuration, we highlight two dimensions of spatial variation in CSO convenings—footprint and permeability—and examine how they relate to three indicators of participant interaction. Our findings suggest that controlling for the number of participants and other convening characteristics, medium‐sized spaces foster more interaction than small or large ones. More broadly, this study demonstrates the viability of the SSO method for collecting data at scale and provides a model for future work on space, interaction, and networks.

Presentations

2023 (November). “How Engaging is Civic Engagement?: Interaction at Civil Society Organization Convenings.” Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Annual Conference (Orlando, FL).

2023 (August). “How Engaging is Civic Engagement?: Interaction at Civil Society Organization Convenings.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, PA).

2023 (May). “Observing Civic Engagement: Using Systematic Social Observation to Study Civil Society Organization Convenings.” Methodological Pluralism in Public Management Conference (Bloomington, IN).

2022 (October). “Civil Society and American Democracy.” Indiana University, O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs (Bloomington, IN)

2022 (October). “Can Your Extra-Curriculars Save Democracy? (And Other Questions about Civil Society).” Indiana University, Civic Leaders Center (Bloomington, IN)

2019 (November). “Systematic Social Observation of Civil Society.” McMaster University, Spark: A Centre for Social Research Innovation. (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada).

2018 (April) “Observing Civic Engagement: Systematic Social Observation of Civil Society Organizations.” West Coast Nonprofit Data Conference (Salt Lake City, UT).

2016 (April) “Systematic Social Observation in the Study of Associations and Civic Engagement.” Indiana University, Department of Information and Library Science (Bloomington, IN)

2015 (November) “Systematic Social Observation in the Study of Associations and Civic Engagement.” Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Annual Conference (Chicago, IL)

2015 (August) “Systematic Social Observation in the Study of Associations and Civic Engagement.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (Chicago, IL)

2015 (June) “Systematic Social Observation in the Study of Associations and Civic Engagement.” Public Management Research Conference (Minneapolis, MN)

Related Work

Baggetta, Matthew. 2009. “Civic Opportunities in Associations: Interpersonal Interaction, Governance Experience, and Institutional Relationships.” Social Forces

Following Tocqueville, many scholars consider associations “schools of democracy” because members can develop civic capacities within them. This article identifies the distribution of civic development opportunities across civic sectors (e.g., politics, service, recreation), focusing on understudied apolitical groups. New data is introduced on a set of often referenced but rarely studied, associations: choral societies. Choruses are shown to offer numerous opportunities for interpersonal interaction, governance experience, and institutional relationships. Data are compared to opportunities offered by associations in other civic sectors. Apolitical arts associations are found to provide as many or more opportunities for individual civic development than their politically- and service-oriented counterparts suggesting their potential for shrinking the political communication gap between naturally politically interested and disinterested citizens.

Baggetta, M. and Bello-Gomez, R. 2023. “Can You Sing Your Way to Good Citizenship?: Recreational Association Structures and Member Political Participation.” Social Problems

What is the relationship of recreational associations to the political engagement of their members? We answer this question using multilevel data on 25 community choirs and the 1,032 members within them. Using structural equation modelling, we model the relationships between recreational association structures and member political participation through member experiences along with countervailing selection effects. We find that selection dynamics are the primary driver of the relationship between recreational associations and member political activity. We also find some evidence that associations foster new political activity in members through an interpretive mechanism—but not through developmental mechanisms. Recreational associations with more-participatory structures and broader organizational identities lead some members to interpret their recreational activity as publicly-oriented. Adopting publicly-oriented interpretations is related to certain kinds of new political activity. The results suggest that, overall, recreational associations are having little impact on political participation; when they do, they do so not by teaching participants how to do civic work but by altering how members think about civic life.

Braunstein, Ruth, Brad R. Fulton, and Richard L. Wood. 2014. “The Role of Bridging Cultural Practices in Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Civic Organizations.” American Sociological Review

Organizations can benefit from being internally diverse, but they may also face significant challenges arising from such diversity. Potential benefits include increased organizational innovation, legitimacy, and strategic capacity; challenges include threats to organizational stability, efficacy, and survival. In this article, we analyze the dynamics of internal diversity within a field of politically oriented civic organizations. We find that “bridging cultural practices” serve as a key mechanism through which racially and socioeconomically diverse organizations navigate challenges generated by internal differences. Drawing on data from extended ethnographic fieldwork within one local faith-based community organizing coalition, we describe how particular prayer practices are used to bridge differences within group settings marked by diversity. Furthermore, using data from a national study of all faith-based community organizing coalitions in the United States, we find that a coalition’s prayer practices are associated with its objective level of racial and socioeconomic diversity and its subjective perception of challenges arising from such diversity. Our multi-method analysis supports the argument that diverse coalitions use bridging prayer practices to navigate organizational challenges arising from racial and socioeconomic diversity, and we argue that bridging cultural practices may play a similar role within other kinds of diverse organizations.

Fulton, B.R. and Wood, R.L. 2018. "Civil Society Organizations and the Enduring Role of Religion in Promoting Democratic Engagement."Voluntas

As Tocqueville observed the emergence of democracy in the USA, he noted the central role religion played in undergirding democratic life. Nearly 200 years later, it is unclear whether religion continues to possess sufficient capacity to promote democratic engagement. This study links organizational theory with research on the structural and cultural characteristics of civil society organizations (CSOs) to assess the current impact of reli- gion on democracy. It analyzes original data from a national study of politically oriented CSOs to determine whether drawing on structural characteristics of religious congregations and cultural elements of religion helps the organizations promote democratic engagement. The anal- ysis finds a positive relationship between organizations that incorporate structural and cultural forms of religion and their organizing capacity, political access, and mobilizing capacity. These findings suggest that religion, mediated by congregations and religious culture, retains sufficient civic vitality to help politically oriented CSOs foster democratic engagement.

Fulton, B.R. 2021. "Engaging Differences: How Socially Diverse Organizations Can Mobilize Their Resources More Effectively." Social Forces

Diversity is a goal for many organizations, yet it is not always connected to improved performance. This study advances diversity-performance research by examining the effect of engaging social differences. The analysis uses data from a national study of organizations containing information on the race, gender, class, and religion of each organization’s leaders as well as information on the type and content of interactions occurring among them. The data also contain multiple measures of organizational output, specifically the organization’s performance in forming alliances, developing strategies, organizing constituents, and mobilizing people. The analysis focuses on organizations with a diverse leadership team, examining the teams’ social interactions to assess whether engaging members’ social differences is associated with better performance. Additionally, qualitative data illustrate how engaging social differences impacts organizational outcomes. The study finds that teams whose members regularly participate in bridging cultural activities and discuss their social differences achieve greater output. Overall, this study indicates that an organization’s ability to realize the performance benefits of having a diverse leadership team is related to how the leaders interact with each other. The findings suggest that diverse organizations can improve their performance by ensuring that their members interact in ways that engage their social differences.