Niches and Networks Among Voluntary Groups

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The growth and decline of voluntary associations is a contemporary social issue of great concern; yet understanding the reasons for the viability of such associations is a classic concern of sociological theory and research. This investigator proposes to replicate an earlier survey of voluntary associations and their memberships with significant extensions and improvements beyond earlier NSF funded data collection and analysis. He is viewed as one of the most creative and skilled sociologists in the field of complex organization. The present proposal is a rich blend of several theoretical perspectives on organizations, including ecological models of the competition among voluntary associations and of their growth and decline, and an attractive set of planned statistical analyses appropriate to the kind of data to be collected. The results should further the PIs own cumulative development of a dynamic theory of the growth and decline of voluntary associations.