Upending the social innovator’s dilemma: Probing the social innovation process to explain the pathways that build evidence based models for social development

Laursen, Tiffany S

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129726 Copy

Description

Title

Upending the social innovator’s dilemma: Probing the social innovation process to explain the pathways that build evidence based models for social development

Author(s)

Laursen, Tiffany S

Issue Date

2025-04-30

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Lough, Benjamin

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Lough, Benjamin

Committee Member(s)

• Anderson, Steven
• Zhan, Min
• Alamos-Concha, Priscilla

Department of Study

School of Social Work

Discipline

Social Work

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Social innovation
• social development
• typological theory
• QCA
• sustainable development goals
• theory of change
• social innovation strategy.

Abstract

Social innovators attempt to solve some of the world’s most difficult social problems. Toolkits provide guidance on how to develop a theory of change and implement programs using nonprofits, for profits, and hybrid organizations. However, many social innovators are met with a dilemma: how do I identify which model should be used in this context to address this problem and spark social change? When social innovators research comparative programs there is little evidence of solution’s ability to resolve problems. Problems exist in complex systems. When innovating within this complexity, it is important to have a comparative understanding of previous and current approaches and to what extent they are associated with an outcome – or not! Still, systemic evaluation of comparative programming for social innovators to draw from remains largely absent. Typology theory provides hope. Although “typology” is often used synonymously with classifications, typology theory extends beyond categorizing shared conditions together into discrete groups; typologies explore a full range of configurations of a set of conditions to explain each configuration’s association with an outcome of interest (Doty & Glick, 1994). Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is one method used in typology research (Doty & Glick, 1994; Fiss, 2007; Ragin, 1987). QCA’s use of case studies and Boolean algebra to explore a full range of conditional configurations and their association to an outcome, alongside its sensitivity to small sample sizes, suggests that QCA could be a natural fit for resolving the social innovator’s dilemma. However, there has been little examination of QCA’s use for social innovation. Embarking on three distinct studies, this dissertation explores one complex and murky question: How has typological theory been applied, is being applied, and could be applied to social sector organization theory building and praxis development? The goal of the research is to advance scientific knowledge of the past, present, and future intersections QCA and social innovation. Three studies utilize QCA in varying ways. Study one explores the extent to which QCA components have been used to examine social sector organizations in the Global South (GS). A literature review was conducted and, although all 29 articles examine SSOs in the GS using various components, only three articles were full typological studies where a full range of ideal types were examined on their association with a social development outcome. Study two examines if and how civilian led social innovation labs (SILs) in the GS develop social innovation strategies. 14 SILs across the GS were purposively and snowball sampled. Interviews and model examination were completed using QCA. The findings of the functional equivalency indicate that there are three necessary pathways for the development of social innovation strategies for development. In addition, there are multiple sufficient pathways for the same outcome. Taken together, the findings suggest that SILs with malleable operating models develop social innovation strategies. Case data revealed areas of further exploration including conditions and outcomes. Study three explores if implementing a QCA-based Competitive Analysis for Social Innovation workbook (QCA – CASI) within social innovation coursework helps students compare programs working on the same outcome, which in turn influences altering their logic model change mechanisms. Ten student teams projects were examined after using the QCA – CASI workbook to see if the workbook led to changes in their innovation. The findings of the functional equivalency show there are two necessary pathways to changing social innovation strategy. Additionally, the intermediate solution for the analysis of sufficiency showed that high intentions of pursuing social program development either in this venture or another by itself, as well as highly innovative models based on their inability to identify comparable programs also by itself are both sufficient for altering social innovation change strategy after using the QCA-CASI. The findings have implications for the continued use and testing of the QCA-CASI as one method to help resolve the social innovator's dilemma. The culmination of the three articles has implications for using typological theory, and QCA specifically, in the development of translation science intended to assist social innovators with developing social innovation strategies.

Graduation Semester

2025-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129726

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Tiffany Laursen

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