Question

Does the research problem derive from theory, prior research, or methodological considerations? Explain the rationale for your response and what part of the narrative you used to arrive at the answer.

The relationship between government agencies and nonprofit organizations is the focus of
increasing attention within the public administration community. Practitioners recognize that the
organization of public services relies to a substantial degree upon what we have come to call

third-party government (Salamon, 1981). Nongovernmental actors not only deliver govern-
ment-funded services but also actively participate throughout the policy process. Often the

third-party is a nonprofit organization. In the last decade or so, researchers from a variety of
disciplines have examined this evolutionary development more closely (Kramer, 1981; Salamon
and Abramson, 1982; Salamon, 1987; Gronbjerg, 1987; Ostrander, Langton, and Van Til,
1987; Lipsky and Smith, 1989-90; Wolch, 1990; Provan and Milward, 1990). A 1989 National
Academy of Public
Administration report, Privatization: The Challenge to Public Management, urged that
public administrators and policymakers in general acknowledge the significant management
challenges posed by government programs that involve such "tools of government action" as
contracting out, loan guarantees, government sponsored enterprises, and vouchers (Salamon,
1989b).
Within this context of extensive sharing of responsibility between governmental and
nongovernmental actors for operating public programs, the government/nonprofit relationship is
widely acknowledged as a critical element. The shrinking capacity of public organizations,
increasing demand for services, and continuing trend toward decentralized program delivery
underscore its importance. At the same time, an understanding of the precise character of the
state/voluntary sector relationship and the degree of interdependence between public agencies
and nonprofit organizations requires additional empirical investigation.
Research findings reported here describe that relationship in terms of the dependence of
public agencies and nonprofit organizations on each other for resources and their resulting
interdependence.
The framework laid out in this study emerged from a synthesis of three sources: (1) the
perspectives of organization theory, especially power/dependence and resource dependence,
and bureaucratic politics; (2) a series of exploratory model refinement interviews with four
public-sector and five nonprofit- sector participants in an earlier policy study (Dawes and

Saidel, 1988); and (3) a field pretest in June-July 1989, with 20 state agency and 20 nonprofit
administrators from four service areas.
Emerson's (1962) theory of reciprocal power-dependence relations provided the
building blocks for the framework used in this research. He reasoned that the power of A
over B is equal to, and based upon, the dependence of B upon A. Recognizing the
reciprocity of social relations, we can represent a power-dependence relation as a pair of
equations:
Pab = Dba
Pba = Dab (Emerson, 1962, p. 33).
For the purposes of this study, if a becomes s for state agencies and b becomes n for
nonprofit organizations, the equations can be read as follows:
The power of state agencies over nonprofit organizations equals the dependence of
nonprofit organizations on state agencies for resources (Psn
= Dns).
The power of nonprofit organizations over state agencies equals the dependence of
state agencies on nonprofit organizations for resources (Pns = Dsn).
The use of Dsn and Dns yields two measures of resource dependence that, taken
together, delineate a current picture of resource interdependence between state and
nonprofit organizations.

Answer 1

Answer::

There are four key hypotheses in this study, which are as follows:

1.Null Hypothesis: The nonprofit organizations are independent of the states in general (the importance of the resource obtained from the state, the availability of the resource from alternative sources, and the ability to compel the provision of the resource from the state)

Research Hypothesis: The nonprofit organizations are dependent on the states in general (the importance of the resource obtained from the state, the availability of the resource from alternative sources, and the ability to compel the provision of the resource from the state)

2.Null Hypothesis: The state is independent of nonprofit organizations in general (the importance of the resource obtained from the nonprofit organization, the availability of the resource from alternative sources, and the ability to compel the provision of the resource from the nonprofit organizations)

Research Hypothesis: The state is dependent on nonprofit organizations in general (the importance of the resource obtained from the nonprofit organization, the availability of the resource from alternative sources, and the ability to compel the provision of the resource from the nonprofit organizations)

3.Null Hypothesis: The state is independent of the non-profit organizations by service sector (arts, health, developmental disabilities, and human services)

Research Hypothesis: The state is dependent on the non-profit organizations by service sector (arts, health, developmental disabilities, and human services)

4.Null Hypothesis: The nonprofit organizations are independent of the state by service sector (arts, health, developmental disabilities, and human services)

Research Hypothesis: The nonprofit organizations are dependent on the state by service sector (arts, health, developmental disabilities, and human services)