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Meta-Analysis for Nonprofit Research: Synthesizing Quantitative Evidence for Knowledge Advancement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

ChiaKo HungOpen the ORCID record for ChiaKo Hung[Opens in a new window] and
Jiahuan Lu
ChiaKo Hung*
Affiliation:
Public Administration Program, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall 631, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Jiahuan Lu*
Affiliation:
School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark, 111 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
*
chung35@hawaii.edu
jiahuan.lu@rutgers.edu
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Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed massive growth in the amount of quantitative research in nonprofit studies. Despite the large number of studies, findings from these studies have not always been consistent and cumulative. The diverse and competing findings constitute a barrier to offering clear, coherent knowledge for both research and practice. To further advance nonprofit studies, some have called for meta-analysis to synthesize inconsistent findings. Although meta-analysis has been increasingly used in nonprofit studies in the past decade, many researchers are still not familiar with the method. This article thus introduces meta-analysis to nonprofit scholars and, through an example demonstration, provides general guidelines for nonprofit scholars with background in statistical methods to conduct meta-analyses, with a focus on various judgement calls throughout the research process. This article could help nonprofit scholars who are interested in using meta-analysis to address some unsolved research questions in the nonprofit literature.

Keywords

Meta-analysisResearch synthesisNonprofit studiesQuantitative research methods

Information

Type
Research Papers
Information
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , August 2023, pp. 734 - 746
Copyright
Copyright © International Society for Third-Sector Research 2022

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