The estimates of philanthropic behavior and attitude in South Korea: Methodological consideration

Estimates on philanthropic giving are one of the major topics within nonprofit studies globally. South Korea has engaged in measuring philanthropic behaviors and attitudes since the early 2000s, however, little is known about the validity of the measures that are used to collect giving and volunteering data. This study aims to investigate the methodological matters of the empirical philanthropy datasets in South Korea. A total of nine datasets were identified that measure philanthropic behaviors and attitudes in South Korea. Among the nine datasets, six were used to analyze the methodological matters for the purposes of this study. This article discusses the challenges associated with research methods including definitional challenges, instrument design issues, and other research methodological issues on the identified philanthropic giving datasets in South Korea. Results of this study suggest insights for improving measures of charitable giving and volunteering in South Korea. The findings are significant because differences in approaches to measuring donation behavior produce substantial differences in reported estimates.