Abstract:

Methods are offered that allow survey researchers to address hypotheses about the relations generated among individuals by organizations, the organizations themselves, and the relations among organizations. Estimators are developed for the number and size distribution of organizations in communities, the density of relations among individuals generated by organizations, the number and density of interorganizational linkages, and the amount of membership overlap among organizations. This approach combines Mark Granovetter's idea of network sampling with Ronald L. Breiger's notion of the duality of persons and groups to produce a quantitative approach to the study of voluntary organization. An illustration is provided of the method developed by testing two of Peter M. Blau's structural hypotheses with regards to voluntary organizations. Data were gathered through interviews in 1,200 households (and with an additional 677 Rs) from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey of 1977. The hypotheses that structural differentiation increases with system size and that this increase is at a decreasing rate are strongly supported. Some suggestions are made for further elaborations of the hypernetwork approach.