Current Issue

 Vol XXXIV, Number 1 (January, 2020) 

Current Population Survey Volunteer Supplement Data: Variance Estimates by the Replication Method

Carlos Siordia, Ph.D.
Walker Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnic Relations Western Michigan University

The article shows the value of ensuring data users are aware of intricacies with using survey data to infer the volunteerism characteristics of the U.S. population. Understanding volunteerism population trends in the United States (U.S.) is important for researchers and administrators. Although this paper uses complex statistical methods, it presents easy-to-understand information on the U.S. volunteer population. Readers are provided with the statistical program used to create detailed population estimates and their variances. Analyst used microdata files from 2011 through 2015 from the Volunteering Supplement of the Current Population Survey. Study used volunteer, race, and ethnicity information from a total of 445,148 survey respondents over the 2011-2015 period. Between-group comparisons suggest Non-Latino-Whites (NLW) had the highest rate of volunteerism of any other race-ethnic group. For the most part, results suggest volunteerism rates may not differ significantly between Non-Latino-Blacks (NLB) and Non- Latino-Others (NLO). Latinos (LAT) had the lowest rate of volunteerism than any other race- ethnic group. Temporal trends suggest volunteerism rate decreased for NLWs and NLOs and did not change for LATs and NLBs.

 Link to Article

Usability of Volunteer Brokerage Websites: The Why and How of User Testing

Els van Gilst, MSc*
Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Tilburg University
Alex van der Sluis, BSc  
Ien van de Goor, Prof.
Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Tilburg University
 Henk Garretsen, Prof.
Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Tilburg University
 Rene Schalk, Prof.
Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University
 
Dutch volunteer centers offer online volunteer brokerage via their websites. Usability is a crucial factor for the success of this service. It determines whether or not visitors or potential volunteers stay on the website and a match can be made. In this article, user testing is applied to the websites of five volunteer centers. The results provide information on the usability of these specific websites. In addition, other volunteer centers are offered insight into the various problems of usability and a tool to test this.

link to article

Peace Corps, the 50plus Initiative, and Volunteer Early Termination

Matthew J. Gallagher, Research and Evaluation Specialist Arizona State University  

Over the past twenty years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of older Americans committing their time to volunteer service programs. Peace Corps, a federal agency that places Volunteers in developing countries’ neediest communities for two-year assignments, has embraced this trend. Starting in 2006, Peace Corps launched a targeted marketing campaign, termed the ‘50plus Initiative,’ to recruit older Americans to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers. By 2008, Peace Corps applications from people aged 50 and over had risen by more than 40%. According to Peace Corps policy, there is a strong desire to recruit, process, and place applicants who profile to become Volunteers that will complete these two-year assignments. Volunteers that do not complete their two-year assignment reduce the agency’s ability to contribute to the project goals and objectives that have been jointly established by the Peace Corps and the host country and may negatively affect the Peace Corps’ relationship with the host country and/or host communities. This study explores the relationship between older Americans serving in the Peace Corps and their rate of early termination as well as their length of service.

link to article