American Trade Unions and Data Limitations: A New Agenda for Labor Studies

Research on the historical level of union density in the United States is based on data or estimates that represent the sum of union members from different organizations. This results in aggregation bias, where the time-trend in union density is consistent with multiple, divergent trends among organ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of sociology 2009-01, Vol.35 (1), p.297-320
Main Authors: Southworth, Caleb, Stepan-Norris, Judith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggregate Data
Bias
Competition
Data aggregation
Democracy
Employment
Estimates
Federations
Formal Organizations
Industrial unions
Labor legislation
Labor movements
Labor union representation
Labor unionization
Labor unions
Labour
Labour movements
Membership
Organizational Research
Organizations
Political campaigns
Politics
Professional relations. Trade unions
Random sampling
Research trends
Social movements
Sociology
Sociology of work
Sociology of work and sociology of organizations
Trade union membership
Trade unions
U.S.A
Union organizing
Unions
United States of America
Worker Attitudes
Workers' representation
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Summary:Research on the historical level of union density in the United States is based on data or estimates that represent the sum of union members from different organizations. This results in aggregation bias, where the time-trend in union density is consistent with multiple, divergent trends among organizations. Some unions have experienced membership gains in specific industries or regions with distinct strategies that the analysis of aggregate data misses. No longitudinal data set, based on a random sample of unions, exists. We identify sources for the development of such a data set. Case studies suggest that organizational strategy, financial resources, internal politics, worker attitudes, and competition affect membership; further research on geographic and industry conditions is needed. Purposive sampling, poor understanding of aggregation, and models that do not account for the clustering of unions within larger federations or industries have retarded progress in labor studies.
ISSN:0360-0572
1545-2115
DOI:10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120019