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Research Projects on Non-profit Organizations and Churches
unpublished papers are available upon request
Research On Churches, Faith Based Organizations and the Connections Between Faith Based Organizations and Non-profit Organizations
1) Faith and Organizations Project (2003-present) is a national research/practice project examining the relationship between faith communities and their organizations. The study explores the role of social capital, theology and religious culture in faith based non-profit organizations, as well as the dynamics between organizations and their founding faith communities. The project compares organizations founded by Catholics, mainline Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals, African American Christians, and Latino Christians in three sectors: 1) social services, 2) health and senior services, and 3) organizations that evolved out of denominationally based community organizing activities. The pilot study for the project was completed in 2005, comparing 11 organizations in Philadelphia and the greater Washington DC metropolitan area.
Publications and Papers:
Connections
Between Faith Communities and Their Non-profits: Findings from the Faith and
Organizations Project Pilot Study on the Role of Religious Culture and Theology
on Social and Health Services. Washington
DC: George Washington University.
2) Kenosha Social Capital Study (1999-2001) is a study of the Latino and African American sub-communities of Kenosha focusing on the dynamic between Latino and African American focused community based organizations and churches; community residents; employers; and the city-wide community organization and church context. Multi-method team study consisting of four components: 1) Ethnography in key organizations and churches serving these communities; 2) life history interviews with 30 families (15 from each community) regarding social resources, work, education, and involvement in organizations and churches; 3) survey of employment practices of Kenosha employers; 4) needs assessment survey of the Kenosha Latino population. The project was funded by the Aspen Institute Non-Profit Sector Research Fund and the Palmer foundation.
Publications and Papers:
Kenosha Social Capital Project Education Report: Churches, Non-profits and Community. Indiana, PA: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, July 2001.
Small Minority Based Non-profits in the Information Age: Examples from Kenosha, WI. Presented at the Independent Sector Spring Research Forum, Washington D.C., March 2001.
Social Capital, Community Organizations and Churches in Kenosha: Exploring the Dynamics Between and Within "Majority" and "Minority" Communities through Organizations. Presented at the Society For Applied Anthropology Meetings, Merida, Mexico, March 2001.
Faith through Works: Church as a Source for Non-profit Activity, Community, Social Capital and Empowerment in Kenosha, WI. Presented at the 29th annual Association for Research in Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Meetings, New Orleans, LA November 2000.
Conceptualizing Community through Non-profits and Churches in "Minority" Communities: Social Capital in Action in Kenosha, WI. Presented at the 4th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research, Dublin, Ireland, July 2000.
3) Kenosha Conversation Project (1997-1998) is a community needs assessment project on welfare reform in Kenosha, a small city in Southeastern Wisconsin. Research consisted of focus groups with stakeholders involved in welfare reform (program participants; Kenosha County Job Center (KCJC) and Department of Human Services administrators, program managers, and line staff; social service agency staff; employers; government officials; church representatives; concerned advocacy organizations) combined with interviews with key people involved in welfare reform and participant observation in KCJC and one advocacy organization. Research was used to develop a conference which brought together stakeholders from various groups to share experience and develop program and policy ideas to address five major issues which emerged from the focus groups (job retention and advancement; childcare; transportation; support services for low income people; W-2 education and outreach). The Kenosha Social Capital Study responds to several concerns raised by this earlier project.
Publications:
Kenosha Conversation Project Education Booklet. Kenosha, WI: University of Wisconsin-Parkside. 1999. Available upon request.
4) Neighborhood Settlement House Evaluation Study (1998-1999) is an evaluation study of the effects of changing welfare and child welfare policy on a Milwaukee community based organization, its neighborhood, and its participants. The neighborhood center which requested the research is a settlement house using a one-stop-shop model which includes educational and basic services for the entire age range through partnerships with 15 organizations. Multi-method team study consisting of four components: 1) ethnography of the Neighborhood Settlement House and the agencies associated with the facility; 2) depth interview study of Neighborhood Settlement House Participants (48 families); 3) community resource analysis through statistical mapping of the neighborhood, windshield survey of community organizations, and interviews with selected organizations and churches; 4) analysis of Neighborhood Settlement House administrative databases and correlation of those data with available demographic resources on the community.
Unpublished Papers:
Organizations, Communities and Social Capital: Exploring the Dynamics Between Community Based Organizations, Churches and the Communities they Serve in a Milwaukee Neighborhood. Presented at the 28th annual Association for Research in Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Meetings, Arlington, VA November 1999.
Organizations and Communities: Conceptualizing the Dynamics of Social Capital as Support for Low Income People under Welfare Reform: the Milwaukee Experience. Presented at the 97th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, November 1999.
5) Faith Based Organizations in Philadelphia (1990-1997) These papers draw on a combination of research and participant observation while serving in administrative and consulting positions in Philadelphia. Approximately 20 formal interviews were conducted with key people involved with the organizations to supplement observations. Publications also draw on secondary source documents including board and Meeting minutes, annual reports, histories, planning files and newspaper articles.
Publication:
Trusting that of God in Everyone: Three Examples of Quaker Based Social Service in Disadvantaged Communities. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, volume 28 number 3: pp 269-295. First presented at the 26th annual Association for Research in Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Meetings, Indianapolis, December 1997.
Trusting that of God in Everyone: Three Examples of Quaker Based Social Service in Disadvantaged Communities. PONPO Working Paper Number 255. New Haven: Yale University. First presented at the 26th annual Association for Research in Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action Meetings, Indianapolis, December 1997. (Expanded version of published paper above).
Free Agency Practice Meets Postmodern Multiculturalism: Lessons From Campus and Community Research/Practice Projects in Philadelphia. In Building Diverse Communities: Applications of Communication Research edited by T.A. McDonald, M. Orbe, and T. Ford-Ahmed. NJ: Hampton Press.(in press).
6) Eastern European Refugee Resettlement in Philadelphia (1984-1988). This study focused on the dynamics between recently arrived Polish and Soviet Jewish refugees and the organizations that resettled them. The study looked at the dynamic between refugee families and the primarily faith based non-profits that contracted with government to provide resettlement, other non-profits working with refugees, government and the religious and ethnic communities that hosted their arrival in the United States. While this project does not specifically discuss faith based service, it discusses the role of religious and ethnic culture on the organizations and communities participating in the resettlement process. Research included participant observation in agencies and life history interviews with 40 representative families. A small number of newly arrived families were followed through periodic interviews and informal interaction for one year.
Publications:
Fieval is an Engineer: Immigrant Ideology and Economic Adjustment of Eastern European Refugees. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, volume 1, number 2: pp 227-248. First presented at the 87th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Phoenix, AZ, November 1988.
In the Big Village: Economic Adjustment and Identity Formation for Eastern European Refugees in Philadelphia, PA. PhD Dissertation, Temple University Anthropology Department, 1988.
Changing Relations: Newcomers and Established Residents in Philadelphia. (1988-1989). This project was one of six sites on a Ford Foundation sponsored multi-community study looking at the dynamics between newcomers and established residents in U.S. communities. The Philadelphia project focused on schools, workplaces and community based organizations in the Kensington, Olney and Port Richmond neighborhoods. The project focused on interactions among U.S. born whites, Polish emigres, Latinos (mostly Puerto Ricans), African Americans and Koreans in these settings. The project was a team project with Judith Goode as principal investigator. Research included participant observation, interviews with representative families and key leaders, analysis of available statistics and secondary source material.
Publication:
Reshaping Ethnic and Racial Relations in Philadelphia: Immigrants in a Divided City. with Judith Goode. Temple University Press,1994.
Research on Organizations Involved in Training for Disadvantaged Populations
Survey of Training Providers in Philadelphia is a questionnaire study of 29 training programs in Philadelphia which was conducted in 1992-93. Questionnaires were sent out to most programs in Philadelphia providing education and training under contract to the Philadelphia Private Industry Council or through Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Adult Basic Education funds. Project conducted under the auspices of the Institute for the Study of Civic Values.
Report: Summary available from author.
The Education and Training System in Philadelphia is the companion anthropological study to the Survey of Training Providers examining Philadelphia PIC and Commonwealth and Federal documents on training and welfare reform, as well as my notes on working with training programs.
Papers and Publications:
The Dialectic Between Research and Practice: Learning from Welfare Reform. In Community Politics and Policy, Research in Politics and Society, volume 7, edited by Nancy Kleniewski and Gordana Rabrenovic. Stamford, CO: JAI Press Inc.: pp135-159. 1999
We Are Not Just Making Widgets: Non-Profit Training Providers and Welfare Reform in Philadelphia. Presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Urban Affairs Association, Louisville, KY, April 1999.