IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v10y2022i3p307-318.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Space and Interaction in Civil Society Organizations: An Exploratory Study in a US City

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Baggetta

    (Paul H. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, USA)

  • Brad R. Fulton

    (Paul H. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, USA)

  • Zoe Caplan

    (Department of Sociology, Indiana University, USA)

Abstract

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are sites for creating and strengthening social ties among participants. Ties are developed when participants in CSO convenings (meetings, events, activities) interact, but convenings vary in the amount of interaction they generate. Theory and research suggest that the physical spaces where convenings occur may impact participant interaction. However, previous methods lack sufficient scale to formally test related hypotheses. We introduce a method for collecting data at scale to examine how CSO convening spaces influence social interaction. The method—systematic social observation (SSO)—assembles comparable, quantitative data from many CSO convenings. As part of an exploratory study, we collected data from 99 CSO convenings from three organizations in Indianapolis, Indiana. For illustrative purposes, building on theories of spatial propinquity and configuration, we highlight two dimensions of spatial variation in CSO convenings—footprint and permeability—and examine how they relate to three indicators of participant interaction. Our findings suggest that controlling for the number of participants and other convening characteristics, medium‐sized spaces foster more interaction than small or large ones. More broadly, this study demonstrates the viability of the SSO method for collecting data at scale and provides a model for future work on space, interaction, and networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Baggetta & Brad R. Fulton & Zoe Caplan, 2022. "Space and Interaction in Civil Society Organizations: An Exploratory Study in a US City," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 307-318.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v10:y:2022:i:3:p:307-318
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v10i3.5308
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/5308
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v10i3.5308?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toker, Umut & Gray, Denis O., 2008. "Innovation spaces: Workspace planning and innovation in U.S. university research centers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 309-329, March.
    2. Bennett, Robert J., 2011. "Local Business Voice: The History of Chambers of Commerce in Britain, Ireland, and Revolutionary America, 1760-2011," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199584734, Decembrie.
    3. Jamie O'Brien & Laura García Vélez & Martin Zaltz Austwick, 2017. "Visualizing the Impacts of Movement Infrastructures on Social Inclusion: Graph-Based Methods for Observing Community Formations in Contrasting Geographic Contexts," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 132-146.
    4. Jamie O'Brien & Laura García Vélez & Martin Zaltz Austwick, 2017. "Visualizing the Impacts of Movement Infrastructures on Social Inclusion: Graph-Based Methods for Observing Community Formations in Contrasting Geographic Contexts," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 132-146.
    5. Alba Angelucci, 2019. "Spaces of Urban Citizenship: Two European Examples from Milan and Rotterdam," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 131-140.
    6. Baggetta, Matthew & Han, Hahrie & Lim, Chaeyoon & Andrews, Kenneth T. & Ganz, Marshall Louis, 2010. "Leadership, Membership, and Voice: Civic Associations That Work," Scholarly Articles 8065966, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gil Viry & Christoph van Dülmen & Marion Maisonobe & Andreas Klärner, 2022. "On the Role of Space, Place, and Social Networks in Social Participation," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 217-220.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthew Baggetta & Brad R. Fulton & Zoe Caplan, 2022. "Space and Interaction in Civil Society Organizations: An Exploratory Study in a US City," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 307-318.
    2. Miguel Serra & Sophia Psarra & Jamie O'Brien, 2018. "Social and Physical Characterization of Urban Contexts: Techniques and Methods for Quantification, Classification and Purposive Sampling," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 58-74.
    3. Janet Stanley & John Stanley, 2017. "The Importance of Transport for Social Inclusion," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 108-115.
    4. Geoffrey Henderson & Matto Mildenberger & Leah C. Stokes, 2025. "The effect of environmental voter mobilization on voter turnout and environmental attitudes: evidence from a field experiment in British Columbia, Canada," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(6), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Verma Prikshat & Parth Patel & Sanjeev Kumar & Suraksha Gupta & Ashish Malik, 2024. "Role of Socio-Cultural Capital and Country-Level Affluence in Ethical Consumerism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 697-711, May.
    6. Hoffer, Rewert, 2021. "Is the business of business business alone? The International Chamber of Commerce and the origins of global business diplomacy, 1920-1931," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112961, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Helen Hintjens & Rachel Kurian, 2019. "Enacting Citizenship and the Right to the City: Towards Inclusion through Deepening Democracy?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 71-78.
    8. Robert Newbery & Johannes Sauer & Matthew Gorton & Jeremy Phillipson & Jane Atterton, 2013. "Determinants of the Performance of Business Associations in Rural Settlements in the United Kingdom: An Analysis of Members' Satisfaction and Willingness-to-Pay for Association Survival," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(4), pages 967-985, April.
    9. Craig Boardman & Denis Gray, 2010. "The new science and engineering management: cooperative research centers as government policies, industry strategies, and organizations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(5), pages 445-459, October.
    10. Lei Peng & Ruiying Jia, 2023. "Exploring the Interplay of the Physical Environment and Organizational Climate in Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Fakhraddin Maroofi, 2016. "Investigating The Links Between The Distinct Layers Of An Organisation’S Culture And Innovative Behaviours," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(07), pages 1-28, October.
    12. Robert Newbery & Matthew Gorton & Jeremy Phillipson & Jane Atterton, 2016. "Sustaining business networks: Understanding the benefit bundles sought by members of local business associations," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(7), pages 1267-1283, November.
    13. Miguel Serra & Sophia Psarra & Jamie O'Brien, 2018. "Social and Physical Characterization of Urban Contexts: Techniques and Methods for Quantification, Classification and Purposive Sampling," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 58-74.
    14. Andrew Messamore, 2024. "Housing movement coalitions in the United States: Trends from big networks among urban civil society leaders," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(9), pages 1645-1665, July.
    15. Altaf, Aqsa & Hassan, Ibn e & Batool, Sana, 2019. "The role of ORIC in the evolution of the triple helix culture of innovation: The case of Pakistan," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 157-166.
    16. Wolfgang Maennig & Michaela Ölschläger & Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz, 2015. "Organisations and regional innovative capability: the case of the chambers of commerce and industry in Germany," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(4), pages 811-827, August.
    17. von Krogh, Georg & Geilinger, Nina, 2014. "Knowledge creation in the eco-system: Research imperatives," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 155-163.
    18. Jonathan S. Coley & Jessica Schachle, 2021. "Growing the Green Giant: Ecological Threats, Political Threats, and U.S. Membership in Sierra Club, 1892–Present," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.
    19. Edward J. Balleisen, 2017. "American Better Business Bureaus, the Truth-in-Advertising Movement, and the Complexities of Legitimizing Business Self-Regulation over the Long Term," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(1), pages 42-53.
    20. Andrew Dilley, 2013. "The politics of Imperial commerce: The Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, 1886-1914," Working Papers 13008, Economic History Society.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v10:y:2022:i:3:p:307-318. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.