session 3b lindsey, metcalfe

8/11/2019 Session 3B Lindsey, Metcalfe

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30 years of volunteering: alongitudinal study of British

volunteering behaviour between1981 and 2012Voluntary Sector and VolunteeringResearch Conference 2014

Dr Rose Lindsey, Third Sector Research Centre, University ofSouthampton

Dr Elizabeth Metcalfe, Third Sector Research Centre, University ofSouthampton


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INTRODUCTION

Existing analyses of patterns of volunteering have tended to be based on annual cross-sectional surveys making it difficult to establish an understanding of longitudinal

trajectories of volunteering. Cross-sectional work undertaken by European and USscholars, Hustinx (2001), Hustinx and Lammertyn (2003), and Macduff (2005)suggests a growing trend towards short-term and one-off voluntary acts associatedwith reflexive and individualised approaches to voluntarism. Macduff, who isresponsible for coining the phrase episodic volunteer, cites Webers work on the2001 US Independent Sector Surveyito evidence this trend. Throughout UK and USliterature there are references to the term episodic volunteer and the increase in thistype of volunteering. However, there is a lack of consistency in how this term is used,what is meant by it, and how it relates to individual patterns of volunteering across the

life-course.

The US scholars, Musick and Wilson (2008, pp. 221-223), note the researchcommunitys dependency on cross-sectional analyses of volunteering, and argue thatwhat is missing are longitudinal and/or retrospective understandings of patterns ofvolunteering across individual volunteering life-courses. Little longitudinal and/or life-course work on individual patterns of volunteering has been undertaken in the UK.The exceptions are Geyne-Rajme and Smiths (2011) paper and qualitative studies bySherratt (1983) and Brodie et al(2011). Geyne-Rajme and Smiths paper draws onthe British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (1996-2008) to discuss longitudinaltransitions in volunteering, from volunteering to not volunteering and vice versa (pp6-7). Those people that transition from one state to another are conceptualised asmovers and those that never transition as stayers. Within the stayers are a groupof individuals who either continuously volunteer or continuously do not volunteerthrough the 1996-2008 timeframe. Geyne-Rajme and Smiths use of the longitudinalBHPS/US dataset provides insights into the potential fluidity of volunteering patternsacross time.

The qualitative study, Pathways through Participation (Brodie et al, 2011) undertook

single interviews with its participants, who were asked to reflect on their volunteeringhistories. The project found that whilst some individuals participation may be short-term across the whole of their life, or across portions of their life, the process ofvolunteering for many is dynamic, consisting of:

...ebbs and flows, starts and stops, a mix of one-offs, short-and long-termcommitment, and experiences that ranged from the undemanding to theintense and all-consuming (p.28)

Whilst both Geyne-Rajme and Smith, and Brodie et aloffer insights into the dynamics

of volunteering patterns over the life-course, their approaches and findings are limitedby their individual methodologies.

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This paper addresses some of these research gaps, presenting findings from a mixed-method study that used a life-course approach to investigate volunteering behaviourand attitudes to voluntarism in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1981 and 2012 ii.The study yielded insights that question, corroborate and develop more recent cross-

sectional findings on volunteering patterns.The first section of this paper discusses the data-sources and methods used in thisstudy. The second examines findings on the trajectories of volunteering taken byindividuals across their life-courses between 1981 and 2012. The final sectionsummarises our key findings.

METHODS

Data sources:

The study reused and combined longitudinal narrative and survey data on volunteering in the UK.

The datasets chosen the Mass Observation Project (MOP) and the BHPS/Understanding Society

(US) survey were not designed originally for researching volunteering, but contain questions on this

subject, and are a good temporal and thematic fit with each other.

MOP

Since 1981, a national panel of self-selected volunteer-writers has written for the MOP in response

to sets of themed questions or directives that are sent to them three times a year. This writing

provides rich insights into writers lives during the time in which they have written for MOP; whilst

retrospective writing provides insights into their individual life-courses. We identified 15 directives

with themes relevant to volunteering, voluntarism, and recession (see Figure 1). We then selected

38 serially responding (unrepresentative) writers whom we could follow through the 1981-2012

timeframe.

BHPS/US

The BHPS is a multi-purpose panel survey that collected information from the same 5,500

households (comprising 10,300 individuals aged 16+) between 1991 and 2008. It was replaced by the

US survey in 2009, and more than 80% of the BHPS panel continued to participate in USiii. The aim of

these surveys is to understand social and economic change in Britain.

Questions on volunteering behaviour were asked by the BHPS/US every other year starting from

1996. The absence of volunteering questions prior to 1996 means we were only able to look at the

time-frame 1996-2011, a 15 year period that represents half the portion of life-course being

analysed in the qualitative data.

The longitudinal sample taken consisted of individuals who were serial-responders to the question

on volunteering behaviour who reported volunteering at least once between 1996 and 2011.

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QUALITATIVE METHODS:We adopted a life-course approachwhen analysing the MOP data, constructing personal, work,

volunteering and attitudinal life-course histories for each writer. We also undertook thematicanalysis of transcribed MOP scripts, using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software(MAXQDA 11) to explore our existing research questions, and to identify themes emerging from

our analysis of the scripts.

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Qualitative and quantitative data fit:

FIGURE 1

Longitudinal data sources

Mass Observation narrative writing directives

British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (1991

to 2008) and Understanding Society (US)

(2011)

Wave 1: 20 older, continuous writers

2267 people who volunteered at least once

between 1996 and 2011, aged between 15and 85 in 1996Wave 2: 18 younger or late starting writers

2012 Volunteering; the Big Society

2011 Volunteering behaviours

2010 Work; Belonging; MOA Survey

2009

2008 Econ. crisis, work & gov. responsibility Volunteering behaviours

2007

2006 Core British Values Volunteering behaviours

2005

2004

Being part of research

Volunteering behaviours

2003


2001


1999


1997 Paid work

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1996 Unpaid work/Volunteering Volunteering behaviours

1995 Where you live: community

1994

1993

1992

1991 BHPS begins

1990 Voluntary Orgs/Social

1989 Divisions

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984 Relatives, friends &neighbours

1983 Work

1982

1981 Unemployment

QUANTITATIVE METHODS:

The BHPS/US longitudinal sample was explored using sequence analysis (optimalmatching) to understand the evolution of individuals volunteering behaviours overtime. Sensitivity analysis of dissimilarity matrices was undertaken to check theconsistency of the optimal matching process. This analysis was repeated with groupsof individuals of different age ranges to explore whether the findings were consistent

over different age ranges. This was followed by hierarchical clustering to pull outgeneral patterns of how individuals moved in and out of volunteering over time.

Frequency tables and graphs were used to explore the demographics andvolunteering frequency and intensity for individuals that followed identifiedvolunteering trajectoriesiv.

DEFINITIONS

In order to impose some consistency on our findings it was necessary to agree a definition ofvolunteering for the study. We opted for the description based on the 2005 Compact on

Volunteering (Home Office) that was adopted by national voluntary sector infrastructure

organisations such as NCVO/Volunteering England:

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An activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the

environment or someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition to, close relatives.

This fits roughly with the definition implied by questions on unpaid work and caring posed by the

BHPS between 1996 and 2008, which asked if the participant has taken part in unpaid voluntarywork and if s/he has provided some regular service or help for any sick, disabled or elderly person

notliving with the participant.

In this paper, voluntary acts for a group or organisationare referred to as formal volunteering (this

includes the provision of care). We exclude the unpaid work involved in caring for ones close

relatives, but view caring, or providing unpaid help to non-co-resident others, to be a form of

volunteering. This conceptualisation comprises part of the definition of informal volunteering

within the British literature on voluntarism (Rochester et al, pp.19-20; Mohan and Bulloch, 2013).

We refer to the provision of unpaid care as informalcaring;whereas when referring to activities

that go beyond care, such as the provision of help to a healthy neighbour, we term this informal

volunteering.

VOLUNTEERING TRAJECTORIES

ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE

Our aim when analysing the BHPS/US data was to identify general volunteeringtrajectories, looking at the way in which people have moved in and out ofvolunteering and identifying the demographic characteristics of individuals that havefollowed specific trajectories. Using the longitudinal BHPS/US sample of people whoreported volunteering between 1996 and 2011 which includes respondents whoundertook unpaid formal volunteering or informal caring work, we identified twobroad patterns of behaviour.

LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS

The quantitative picture

Hierarchical clustering identified a group of individuals who had taken part in formalvolunteering and/or informal caring activity several times a year or more, for a largeproportion of the 15 year time frame (1996-2011) (see Figure 2a). These individuals

reported volunteering mean (s.d.) = 5.9(1.6) out of a potential eight time points. Theproportion who can be perceived as long-term volunteers was 29% (n=626) of the

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BHPS/US longitudinal sample of volunteers; and we describe them as long-termvolunteers. What is noteworthy about these people is that they contributed 54% ofthe volunteering activity (defined as the proportion of people who reportedundertaking voluntary activity) across this time frame. This implies that slightly less

than one-third of the longitudinal BHPS/US sample of volunteers contribute over halfof the total amount of voluntary activity reported by survey respondents.

Over time, the proportion of individuals who were long-term volunteers, and theintensity of their volunteering, varied according to whether they took part in formalvolunteering or informal caring. However, it is difficult to make direct comparisonsbetween the amounts of formal volunteering and informal caring undertaken becausethe measurements used within the BHPS/US to measure caring/informal and formalvolunteering are different.

The proportion of long-term volunteers who take part in informal caring was seen tobe gradually increasing until 2008 in Figure 2(b). These were mainly people whocontributed less than 20 hours a week. An average of 26.6% of long-term informalcarers provided fewer than 20 hours of informal caring a week, and an average of4.9% long-term volunteers provided over 20 hours of informal caring a week.

There was also a gradual increase in the proportion of people taking part in long-termformal volunteering which continued until 2006, see Figure 2 (c). However, in 2008the proportion of people volunteering appeared to decrease slightly, it was 5.9%lower than the proportion of people in 2006. We observed that within the same year

the proportion of individuals volunteeringat least once a week decreased by 7.7% incomparison to 2006; but the proportion of individuals who formally volunteered atleast once a month increased by 9.6%. This may be explained by 29.6% of theindividuals who formally volunteered at least once a week in 2006 decreasing theirvolunteering to at least once a monthin 2006. Thus in 2008 both the proportion ofindividuals taking part in long-term formal volunteering and the frequency of theirformal volunteering contribution decreased. This is consistent with the findings ofLim and Laurence (forthcoming) that the number of hours volunteered was in declineduring recessionary periods in the UK from 2008 onwards.

In 2011 the survey continued within the Understanding Society survey (US) with thesame respondents. However, the wording of the question on formal volunteering wasslightly different. Therefore it is not possible to identify whether the decrease in theamount of formal long-term volunteers, and decrease in the intensity of theircontribution, represents a trend.

About 10% of the long-term volunteers discussed above, undertook a mix of both

formal volunteering and informal caring. This proportion increased from between8.15% in 1996 to 13.10% in 2002, and then remained consistent until 2008.

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Figure 2: Sample of long-term volunteers trajectories of volunteering a),

proportion of the long-term informal carers b) and long-term formal

volunteers c)

Our analysis of the demographic characteristics of long-term volunteers shows thatthey were more likely to be older, be women, be in part-time or full-timeemployment, and more likely to be of a professional or managerial social-class.

The qualitative picture

Analysis of the survey data provides robust information on long-term volunteeringwithin a representative sample of the British public. Yet, these analyses cannot providedepth insights into this behaviour, or examine the dynamic relationship between

volunteering and the life-course. However, our sample of MOP writers whosedemographic characteristics broadly reflect those of long-term volunteers within theBHPS sample, and whom we see as long-term volunteers or stayers, have writtencontemporary and retrospective accounts of their volunteering behaviour which canprovide these insights. We identified several types of volunteers based on the shape oftheir trajectories through their volunteering life-coursev.

Stickers

Our sample of MOP writers are all serial-responders to MOP directives and can bedescribed as long-term volunteers who are stickers, that is, people who have

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400

600

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011

Not this year Volunteered this year

Long-term volunteering trajectories (a)

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100

Individuals

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011

Long-term informal volunteers (b)

None Under 20 hrs

Over 20 hrs

0

20

40

60

80

100

Individuals

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011

Long-term formal volunteers (c)

None/little Several times a year

At least once a month At least once a week

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volunteered continuously for one individual, organisation, or cause; in this case theMOP. Although they have provided continuous voluntary service to the MOP, somewriters have also volunteered continuously for other organisations, or individuals. Forsome, this involved a complex and evolving relationship between the volunteer and

the beneficiary. For example, writer R1025, aged 53 in 1996, continuouslyvolunteered as a library home-visitor, delivering books to house-bound beneficiaries.She described an evolving relationship with her clients which grew to include theprovision of informal care. We have identified writers (just over one-fifth of the MOPsample) whom we perceive to have mostly undertaken continuous volunteering forother organisations and/or individuals (formal and/or informal caring) as well as theMOP.

Swappers by personality

We identified individuals that fit Musick and Wilsons (2008) description of careervolunteers, who seem to pursue a career in volunteering, moving from onevolunteer opportunity to another (p.224). Our analyses did not reveal any evidenceof purely short-term hopping from one volunteering opportunity to another, but didreveal people like B2240, who in 1996 aged 75 and still an active volunteer, statedthat he is by nature a swapper:

As with most of my activities I have moved on after a time. Looking back I cansee that even my working life has been like that. Not that I get bored; it just

seems that something else might be more interesting and I dislike routine.

B2240, who had worked in professional/managerial occupations, was married, hadfour children, and several grandchildren, described himself as a life-long volunteer,who had volunteered as a child in the 1930s, and was still a volunteer when writing asa 91 year old in 2012. His voluntarism included a mix of one-off acts, such as irregularstreet-collections for charities, and long-term acts such as being the treasurer of acharity assisting a poor, overseas community. He described his routes into differentvolunteering activities as the result of being asked by individuals with whom he hasweak social ties (work and church) and strong social ties (extended family members).

Whilst some of his one-off and long-term volunteering activities were of aconsecutive nature, others were undertaken simultaneously. However, all were formalvolunteering activities.

Like B2240, female writer G266, aged 55 when writing in 1996 was a swapper bypersonality. She had worked full-time and part-time throughout her life, married threetimes, and described regularly changing employment, place of residence andvolunteering activities. Her volunteering began when she started writing for the MOP,as a mature student of 39. Whilst she continued to write for the MOP, she also

started, stopped, and/or continued, a variety of other types of volunteering, mostly informal committee and administration roles. Her routes into and out of her formal

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volunteering activities were self-selected and linked to other life-course events andchanges. For example, in the mid-1990s she described moving house andvolunteering, with her husband, to work on a local free newspaper for their new placeof residence. She implied that this would assist them in getting to know their new

community. Like B2240, some of her long-term volunteering activities were of aconsecutive nature, and others were undertaken simultaneously.

Ten of our MOP writers (just over a quarter of our sample) who provided continuousvolunteering to the MOP were by nature people who wanted, or needed, to vary andswap their volunteering activities throughout their volunteering life-course. Some alsoundertook informal volunteering activities, and thus contributed a mix of informal andformal engagement.

Evolving swappers

In contrast to the personality swapper, we also identified the evolving swapper withinour MOP writer sample. These were individuals whose routes into volunteering weredetermined by life-course events, and whose volunteering evolved alongside theirlives. For example, several writers who are mothers described beginning theirvolunteering when they identified a need for help at their childrens pre-school. Theymoved onto involvement in their childrens primary school, and then their childrenssecondary school. Unlike the swappers by personality, their behaviour is fairlyconsistent. They do not seem to undertake direct swaps in their volunteering

behaviour, but gradually drop some activities and pick other activities up, over time.

Eleven of our MOP writers (just over a quarter of our sample) were perceived to beevolving swappers; some also contributed informal voluntary acts alongside theirformal volunteering.

Stop starters

We identified seven writers whose other volunteering activities did not meet ourdefinition of long-term volunteering, beyond their contribution to the MOP. Without

their involvement in the MOP, we might have classified them as short-term formal orinformal volunteers who match MacDuffs (2005) description of temporary episodicvolunteering, or interim volunteers (pp.50-51). Trying to categorise these writers isquite complicated; each had unique routes into their short-term voluntaryengagement.

Female writer W729 began writing for the MOP in 1983, aged 26, shortly afterleaving her job as a qualified primary-school teacher due to stress-related depression.She described the process of writing for MOP almost in therapeutic terms:

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This whole scheme which I am writing for, for the first time has helped me

enormously to formulate my thoughts , organize myself, to see if I can write

logically and still be interesting as well. This was my first real test and I

am so pleased to have been chosen to write for the scheme

Some of W729s later routes into formal volunteering also appear to have beenrelated to her mental health needs, and her volunteering was of an interimnature.Between 1987 and 1993 she taught basic skills to adults for 6 months, and for a yearvolunteered for a half-day a week for the occupational therapy unit of a psychiatrichospital. After securing a job in 1996, she did not volunteer again until her earlyretirement in 2010 (aged 53), where she undertook a trial afternoon working for ahospital charity. Although it is possible that she undertook informal volunteeringactivities, W729 does not mention these. In her early accounts, when still experiencingdepression, she writes about finding her relationship with her neighbours oppressive,and being unwilling to undertake informal activities with or for them.

B1180 is a female writer who began writing for the MOP in 1984 when aged 46. Shedescribes herself as someone who does not volunteer because neither her husbandnor her children believe in, or like, the concept of volunteering. Yet, when describingher life-course activities, she appears to have engaged in several one-off acts of formalvolunteering; and both she and her partner seem to be very actively engaged in theircommunity, providing different types of informal support for friends and neighbours.As B1180 describes these as a series of one-off activities, we have placed her in the

stop-start category; however, our gut feeling is that B1180s informal engagementis actually long-term and continuous.

Another writer whom we would describe as a stop-starter is M3055, a hedge-fundmanager aged 34 in 2008, who left her job to get married, and volunteered for acharity whilst living briefly in Africa with her husband in order to do something. By2012 she had 2 year old child and was living in England. Categorising this writer isdifficult, she may be at the beginning of her volunteering life-course, and may go ontodo other formal voluntary work later in life as a parent. However, at the cross-sectional moment in time when our study finishes 2012 - the shape of her

volunteering behaviour/trajectory makes her appear a stop-starter.

C41 joined the MOP in 1981, aged 22, having undertaken 3 different formalvolunteering activities for several months at a time between leaving school andstarting college. She then dropped out of college, married, and went to leave inShetland, where she home-schooled her three children, then divorced her husband inthe early 2000s. Although C41 is seen as a serial-responder, in that she has been amember of MOP since 1981, her response rate has been patchy, and her engagementin the MOP could also be described as of a stop-start nature.

Non volunteers

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The MOP sample has two non-volunteers who appear not to have done any othervolunteering beyond their continuous writing for the MOP.

MOP writers as long term volunteers

Although we have described MOP writers as long-term volunteers, not all of theMOP writers would agree with this definition. Some did not see their writing as avoluntary act but as something they enjoyed doing that might also be of benefit toothers. We wonder how our writers would describe themselves if answering theBHPS/US. Given the lack of prompts within the survey, we think some might omit toconsider their MOP writing as a long-term voluntary commitment (whereas theymight do so if they were answering the cross-sectional Citizenship Survey which has

many prompts). Looking back at our categories, our view is that writers we havedescribed as stickers and swappers, which make up over three-quarters of the MOPsample, would identify themselves as volunteers within the BHPS/US because of theirother informal and formal long voluntary commitments. However, the seven stoppersand starters would be described within the BHPS/US as short-term volunteers (whilstthe two non-volunteers might not be included within the BHPS/US longitudinalvolunteering sample).

Below, we describe the volunteering trajectories of those in the BHPS whose

volunteering would be considered to be short-term, whose behaviour bears somesimilarities to our MOP stoppers and starters.

SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS

These are participants in the BHPS/US who reported volunteering once or twicebetween 1996 and 2011. The mean (s.d.) number of times that an individual reportedvolunteering was 2(1.2) out of a potential 8 time points, see Figure 3 (a). The

proportion of all the BHPS/US respondents who can be perceived as short-termvolunteers between 1996 and 2011 is 71% (n=1525). Over this timeframe theseshort-term volunteers contributed less than half of the volunteering activity (46%)undertaken by BHPS/US participants.

Figure 3 (b) illustrates the change in proportion and intensity of short-term informalcaring over time. In contrast to long-term volunteers, the proportion of people whoparticipated in informal caring was reasonably consistent between 1996 and 2011.On average 15.4% of short-term informal carers provided less than 20 hours a week

of volunteering. This is a smaller proportion (by, on average, 11.2%) than long-terminformal carers. The proportion of short-term informal carers contributing over 20

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hours a week (on average 5%) was similar to the proportion of individuals within thelong-term informal carers.

Figure 3 (c) shows the proportion of short-term volunteers that took part in formalvolunteering between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of formal volunteers and thefrequency of their volunteering, see Figure 3(b), gradually decreased between 1996and 2006. This is in direct contrast to the activities of long-term formal volunteerswhich increased in the same time-frame. However, in 2008 there was a sharp increasein the proportion of people who reported short-term volunteering. This wasaccompanied by a change in the frequency of their volunteering. Figure 3 (c) showsthat the 2008 spike in volunteering comprised an increase in people undertakingformal volunteering several times a year or at least once a month relative toprevious years. This increase is also reflected within the Citizenship Survey data for thesame year.

It is tempting to relate the 2008 increase in frequencies of formal volunteering toMacDuff (2005) and Low et al s claims that there has been an increase in the numberof people who are episodic or irregular volunteers. Given that the increase in short-term volunteering is limited to 2008, it is not possible to corroborate this as a trend.As yet we are unable to provide an explanation for this increase. Preliminary analysishas focused on whether it is connected to the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequentrecessions that have taken place in the UK.

In comparison to the long-term volunteers a much lower proportion of short-term

volunteers undertook a mix of both formal volunteering and informal caring (onaverage, 1.4%). This proportion was reasonably consistent over time.

Figure 3: Sample of short-term volunteers trajectories of volunteering a),proportion of short-term informal carers b) and formal volunteers c)

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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011

not this year Volunteer

Short-term volunteering trajectories (a)

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Short-term informal volunteers (b)

None Under 20 hrs

Over 20 hrs

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Short-term volunteers have strong similarities with the general British population, anddo not resemble the long-term volunteers who are more likely to be women and tobe older.

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the BHPS/US between 1996 and 2011 found that one third of the BHPS/US

volunteering sample were long-term volunteers who contributed 54% of all the volunteeringparticipation being undertaken within this timeframe by this sample. There was a gradualincrease in long-term formal volunteering until 2006, but in 2008 both the proportion of

individuals taking part in long-term formal volunteering and the frequency of their formalvolunteering contribution decreased. The picture of long-term informalcaringis different. The

proportion of long-term volunteers who took part in informal caring for less than 20 hours aweek gradually increased until 2008, when it began to gradually decrease again. However the

proportion of long-term informal carers whose contribution was greater than 20 hours a week

was fairly consistent across time. On average, about 10% of these long-term volunteersundertook a mix of both formal volunteering and informal caring.

71% of the BHPS volunteers were short-term volunteers who contributed 46% of all the

volunteering participation undertaken by the BHPS sample within this timeframe. Theproportion of short-term formal volunteers and the frequency of their volunteering gradually

decreased between 1996 and 2006, possibly contradicting the claims of MacDuff (2005) thatthere was a rising trend in episodic volunteering in the early 2000s (within the UK). However,

in 2008 there was a sharp increase in the number of people undertaking formal volunteeringseveral times a year or at least once a month relative to previous years. It is as yet uncertain

whether this increase has been sustained since 2008, and whether it was related to the 2008economic crisis.

Analysis of the writing of our MOP participants found that by virtue of the fact they wereserially-responding volunteer writers, we might consider MOP participants to be long-term

volunteers. However, not all writers agreed that their writing counted as volunteering. We areaware that if these same writers had been BHPS/US participants they may not have reported

volunteering. Looking at other ways in which these writers have participated in voluntary

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Ind

ividuals

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011

Short-term formal volunteers (c)

None/little Several times a year

At least once a month At least once a week

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activities across their life-course, aside from their writing, we identified additional trajectoriesto their volunteering. However, we also noted that categorisation is not always that enlightening

given there is sometimes a discrepancy between the researchers and the individualsperception of their volunteering. Additionally, until we can describe the whole of a persons

volunteering life-course, any categories imposed might be inaccurate.

Whilst MOP writers discussed their motivations to volunteer, they had a greater focus on theirroutes into and out of volunteering at key stages in their life-course. There is considerable

variety; and the exit points for some writers are other writers entry points. We also found thatsome MOP writers stopped volunteering at a certain point in their lives, for example, retirement,

only to take up volunteering again later. The MOP has enabled us to look at volunteering from alife-course perspective, and to note that short or long-term volunteering behaviours are not

definitive in any individual. There is always a possibility that behaviour may evolve, change or

continue. This has prompted us to ask whether can really describe anyone as an ex-volunteer, or

a non-volunteer (unless they are deceased).

CITATIONS

Brodie, E., Hughes, T., Jochum, V., Miller, S., Ockenden, N. and Warburton D.Pathways through participation: What creates and sustains active citizenship. London:NCVO, IVR, involve, and Big Lottery.

Geyne-Rajme, F. and Smith, P.W.F. (2011) Modelling Volunteering Types in the UK,Southampton: TSRC Seminarand unpublished paper.

Home Office (2005) Volunteering compact Code of Good Practice. London: Home

Office

Hustinx, L. (2001) Individualisation and new styles of youth volunteering: an empiricalexploration in VAJ(3) 2. London: Institute for Volunteering Research.

Hustinx, L. and Lammertyn, F. (2003) Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering:A Sociological Modernization Perspective in Voluntas: International Journal ofVoluntary and Nonprofit Organizations14 (2) pp.167-187.

Kane, D., Clark, J., Lesniewski, S., Wilton, J., Pratten, B. and Wilding, K. (2009) The UK

Civil Society Almanac 2009. London: ncvo.

Low, N., Butt, S., Ellis Paine, A. and Davis Smith, J. (2007) Helping Out: A nationalsurvey of volunteering and charitable giving. London: Cabinet Office, Office of theThird Sector.

Macduff, N. (2005) Societal Changes and the Rise of the Episodic Volunteer in J.Brudney (ed.) Emerging Areas of Volunteering. ARNOVA Occasional Paper 1 (2),Indianapolis: ARNOVA pp. 49-61

Musick, M. A. and Wilson, J. (2008) Volunteers A social profile. Bloomington andIndianapolis:Indiana University Press.

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Mohan, J. and Bulloch S., (2011) The idea of a civic core: what are the overlapsbetween charitable giving, volunteering and civic participation in England and Wales?TSRC Working paper 73www.tsrc.ac.uk

Rochester, C., Ellis-Paine, A., Howelett S., and Zimmeck M. (2010) Volunteering in the21stCentury. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sherrott, R. (1983) Fifty volunteers in S. Hatch (ed.) Volunteers: patterns, meaningsand motives. Berhemsted: The Volunteer Centre. pp. 62-143

i This was a paper presented at the Montreal 2002 ARNOVA conference. Weber found that in 2001 31%

of US volunteers could be described as short-term/one-off volunteers.iiFunded by the ESRCs Secondary Data Analysis Initiative: ES/K003550/1.

iiiThe two surveys constitute one longitudinal panel survey.

iv In 2002 the BHPS changed its question on unpaid voluntary work. Respondents could not respond

never/almost never volunteering to this question. A larger proportion of individuals reported volunteering

once a year or less. This error would have had a large adverse effect on the continuity of the longitudinal

BHPS/US sample. Therefore, we grouped together participants who reported never/almost never volunteering

with those reporting that they volunteered once a year or lessin each given year.vWe observed gaps/absences in individual accounts, and suspect that some writers may have under-

reported some types of volunteering (for example, some writers did not describe any caring/informal

volunteering acts).

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session 3b lindsey, metcalfe

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