How to Test Olson's Theory

Obtaining the Collective Good

• 1

  List the members of two groups, the larger consisting of all or nearly all the tenants in an apartment complex, the smaller consisting of only those who share the same hallway of a certain building within that complex. Insofar as the large group clearly exceeds the small one in numbers, the small group will have a distinct advantage in obtaining the collective good, implies Olson in his book "The Logic of Collective Action."

• 2

  Think of the two groups as analogous to the experimental and control groups in an experiment. Such groups compare to each other in all ways except one --- the experimental group, but not the control group, is to be subjected to a stimulus, observes the book "Research Methods in the Social Sciences, 3rd ed.," by David Nachmias and Chava Nachmias. Think of the small group as the "experimental group" and its smallness as the "stimulus" that will propel it toward obtaining the collective good.

• 3

  Devise, print and disseminate copies of a three- or four-question questionnaire for members of the large group to determine their feelings about having a tidy common area. Ask questions such as "On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being 'not at all important' and 10 being 'extremely important,' how important is it to you that the parking lot be free of litter?" For ideas on how to formulate questions and design a questionnaire, see Floyd Fowler's book "Survey Research Methods, 2nd ed."

• 4

  Devise, print and disseminate copies of a parallel questionnaire for members of the small group, asking how important it is to them that the hallway they share be kept tidy. Presumably, responses to both questionnaires will provide evidence that the tenants generally value common-area tidiness, thereby establishing it as a collective good.

• 5

  Notify tenants that, after a certain date, the custodial chore of tidying up the common area will fall exclusively to them.

• 6

  Take periodic photos of the two areas in question over, say, a period of three months. Olson's theory implies that with regard to tidying up its common area, the large group should do a poor job compared to the small group, and the hallway should generally appear tidier than the parking lot. A contrary finding would falsify the hypothesis, casting doubt on the utility of Olson's theory.