Organizational self-reports of membership counts can be administratively frozen

Evidence

By contrast, the Amateur Softball Association, as recorded in the Statistical Abstract of the United States, claimed an unvarying figure of exactly forty-one million players every year over the last decade or two. I found no other source consistent with that figure; it may represent administrative lethargy rather than actual surveys. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1905

Categorization

• SHARE: A great methodological cautionary tale for anyone doing quantitative social-science research: an official statistic may be a stale bureaucratic placeholder rather than fresh measurement.
• XREF: connects to: Survey self-reports wildly overstate environmental organization membership — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 2057; Attitude correlations may only hold within organizational joiners; Chapter-based groups retain members through personal ties rather than mission — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 517

Broader Connections

• Survey self-reports wildly overstate environmental organization membership #expands (0.85) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 2057
• Chapter-based groups retain members through personal ties rather than mission #complicates (0.85) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 517
• Attitude correlations may only hold within organizational joiners #qualifies (0.80)