Measurement of Volunteering: A Methodological Study Using Indiana as a Test Case

Abstract

How much does survey methodology matter when measuring volunteering? Every 4 years, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University conducts a telephone survey (called “Indiana Gives”) of the giving and volunteering behaviors of Indiana citizens. In this most recent wave of the Indiana survey, conducted in October and November 2000, we asked eight groups of approximately 100 randomly selected Indiana residents to complete one of eight surveys related to giving and volunteering. We found that the longer and more detailed the module, the more likely an individual was to have provided volunteer service in the past year, and the higher the average number of hours provided, even after controlling for differences in age, income, household status, itemization status, and race. Further research is needed to ascertain whether there may be a “point of diminishing returns” in terms of optimal survey length and detail and whether recall is inhibited for high-end volunteers only.

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