David Dunaetz | Azusa Pacific University (original) (raw)

Papers by David Dunaetz

Great Commission Research Journal, 2024

Although the proper use of statistics is challenging for most people, including researchers, aggr... more Although the proper use of statistics is challenging for most people, including researchers, aggregated numeric data is often the strongest evidence that a researcher can present to support an idea. This is because statistics is such a powerful tool for detecting trends that can be observed in complex contexts such as churches. Church researchers need to understand two classes of statistics: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics describe the different variables that are measured in a study and include the mean, the standard deviation, and confidence intervals. They also include correlations showing how these variables are related to each other. Inferential statistics, in contrast, are calculated to test a hypothesis and to make an inference of whether any trends observed in a sample can be expected to be true for the population from which data was collected. If the statistical evidence is so strong that we can make inferences about the population, we say that the statistics are significant. In church-based research, statistics can be used to describe people and the phenomena associated with them (such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors), allowing us to make inferences about how they are related. From an objective point of view, these inferences are much more credible than reported personal experiences or anecdotes.

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2024

Self-leadership theory predicts that specific self-leadership practices will enable individuals t... more Self-leadership theory predicts that specific self-leadership practices will enable individuals to better accomplish their goals. However, little is known about the role that these practices play in conventional leadership (leading or influencing others). This study compares leaders to nonleaders (N = 318) in nonprofits and examines both the extent to which self-leadership practices are employed and the strength of beliefs concerning their importance. Leaders practiced self-goal setting (d = .47) and self-observation (d = .45) more than non-leaders. Non-leaders practiced more self-reward (d = .33) and self-punishment (d = .37) than leaders. The only differences in belief concerning the importance of the self-leadership practices were due to leaders believing self-goal setting (d = .46) and self-observation (d = .36) were more important than non-leaders did. If self-leadership practices contribute to leadership effectiveness or emergence, this study indicates that goal setting and self-observation (monitoring progress toward goals) may contribute positively to the leadership of others whereas self-reward and self-punishment may contribute negatively. Self-leadership may not be as important to the leadership of others as is often claimed or implied. This is the first study to look at how self-leadership practices differ between leaders and non-leaders.

Journal of Faith in the Academic Profession, 2024

Lego Serious Play is a facilitated approach to solving problems that is popular in the world of b... more Lego Serious Play is a facilitated approach to solving problems that is popular in the world of business and nonprofits because it is both fun for the participants and has been validated as a means of encouraging communication and group problem-solving. In an attempt to provide a meaningful faith integration activity in an undergraduate career exploration class at a Christian University, a Lego Serious Play intervention was introduced to develop vocational identity. Vocational identity is a set of experience-based personal beliefs regarding one's interests, goals, and abilities related to one's career. From a Christian perspective, vocational identity would be influenced by the integration of Christian values and priorities, as well as one's spiritual gifts. The intervention was designed as a pre-test/post-test control group experiment. The quantitative results of the study showed no differences between the outcomes of the control group and the intervention group, t(16) = .26, d = .12, p = .40, 1tailed. In a debriefing focus group, it became clear that students had a limited understanding of vocational identity and that the faith integration elements of the intervention were not clear to them. Factors that appear to have contributed to this failure in faith integration include inappropriate assumptions of students' understanding of career and vocation, a lack of trust in the Lego Serious Play facilitators providing the intervention, false assumptions concerning the students' spiritual status and maturity, a small sample size, and an over-reliance on the attractiveness of Lego Serious Play.

Equipping for contemporary mission: Theological and Missiological proposals and case studies , 2024

Many Christian universities and seminaries offer programs in world missions. Many people in these... more Many Christian universities and seminaries offer programs in world missions. Many people in these programs are already or will become missionaries. Yet missionaries receive many other forms of education as well. This study examines various forms of education and whether they predict Great Commission behaviors, defined as sharing the gospel, baptizing new believers, teaching the Bible, teaching evangelism, and training others to lead Bible studies and teach others. The top educational predictors of Great Commission behaviors were found to be attending a Christian (vs. secular) university, having a seminary degree (vs. not having one), and the total number of missions courses taken (especially in evangelism and church planting). The MDiv degree was an especially strong predictor of Great Commission behaviors. The degree to which missions courses were taken online or in-person did not influence Great Commission behaviors, nor did taking the courses before (vs. after) arriving on the mission field. Missionaries involved in evangelism and church planting ministries do far more Great Commission behaviors than those in administrative positions or those providing social services for local populations.

Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 2024

Missionaries face many complex situations when seeking to adapt to new cultures, especially when ... more Missionaries face many complex situations when seeking to adapt to new cultures, especially when they are working among immigrant communities. The theory of acculturation strategies (Berry, 1997, 2001) provides insights into various approaches different people use when responding to new cultures. Different combinations of the desire to maintain one's home culture and the desire to adapt to the host culture produce different acculturation strategies that have important implications for church planting.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2024

An underlying assumption of most church-based research is that the sample from which the data is ... more An underlying assumption of most church-based research is that the sample from which the data is collected is representative of a wider collection of church members, church leaders, small groups, churches, denominations, or whatever is the focus of the study. To increase the likelihood that this assumption is met without making the research an impossible undertaking, various sampling strategies are used ranging from random sampling to convenience sampling, each with advantages and disadvantages. After a sampling strategy is chosen, an appropriate sample size should be pursued, depending on the nature of the study. The sample size of quantitative studies seeking to describe the frequency of a phenomenon (such as a belief or behavior) or the number in a category (such as demographics) is determined by the desired margin of error. It is more complex to determine the desired sample size of quantitative studies that test a relationship between concepts or differences between groups; several variables must be considered (statistical power, acceptable false-positive error rate, and effect size). For qualitative studies, sampling and data collection should continue until saturation is reached, that is, until little or no new information would be gained from additional data.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2014

The attitudes of 92 head pastors were measured concerning 20 ministry-relevant ideas and practice... more The attitudes of 92 head pastors were measured concerning 20 ministry-relevant ideas and practices, as well as information about their church’s present numerical growth. A statistical analysis found four pastoral attitudes that predict positive or negative numerical church growth. Positive predictors of numerical church growth were strong beliefs that 1) personal and corporate prayer are important and 2) transfer growth is an indicator of congregational health. Negative predictors of numerical church growth were strong beliefs in the importance of 1) preaching and 2) outreach to the community. The practical implications of these findings are discussed in light of evangelical theology.

In D. Baker & D. Hayward (Eds.), Serving Jesus with integrity: Ethics and accountability in mission (pp. 197-221). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library., 2010

When members of mission organizations perceive injustice within their organization, they work les... more When members of mission organizations perceive injustice within their organization, they work less effectively and attrition is more likely. This paper examines various types of organizational justice (distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational) which need to be monitored and maximized to help mission organizations accomplish their goals.

Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 2010

Missionary teams are popular, but not always effective. Five conditions contributing to healthy t... more Missionary teams are popular, but not always effective. Five conditions contributing to healthy team functioning are examined in light of empirical evidence: trust, task conflict, commitment to decisions, accountability, and group goals.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2018

Pastoral narcissism in churches is a problem, from both a theological and practical perspective. ... more Pastoral narcissism in churches is a problem, from both a theological and practical perspective. In this study, we explore the question of whether church size is related to tolerance for narcissism. In the popular press, pastors of megachurches are often portrayed as narcissistic. The Dominance Complementarity Model of narcissistic leaders (Grijalva & Harms, 2004) predicts that churches which have less dominant followers, as may be the case in larger churches, would be more tolerant of narcissistic pastors than smaller churches. Yet larger churches also have the resources to hire the most qualified staff, which would presumably exclude candidates high in narcissism. This quantitative study of 64 Christians who attend various evangelical churches in the United States examines how these two tendencies play out. The results indicate that Christians in larger churches tolerate narcissism significantly more than Christians in smaller churches. To prevent this phenomenon from having damaging effects on churches, larger churches need to be careful in their hiring practices by looking for signs of narcissism and holding their leadership accountable for godly behavior.

Theology of Leadership Journal, 2018

Although wavering personal commitment to a local body of believers has been a concern of Christia... more Although wavering personal commitment to a local body of believers has been a concern of Christian leaders since New Testament times, increasing individualism and other cultural changes are affecting individual Christians’ commitment to their churches in new ways. This study examines church commitment using the multidimensional construct of organizational commitment to examine characteristics of churches, church leaders, and church members that may influence such commitment. Specifically, church size, perceptions of pastoral humility, church tenure (the time one has attended a church), age, and gender are considered as possible predictors of church commitment. This commitment is measured as affective commitment (one’s emotional attachment to the church), continuation commitment (the felt-need to stay at the church), and normative commitment (one’s belief that staying at the church is the right thing to do). In a study of evangelical Christians in the U.S. (N = 244), a regression analysis indicates that higher affective commitment is associated with perceptions of greater pastoral humility and member tenure. Continuation commitment decreases as church size goes up. Higher normative commitment is associated with perceptions of greater pastoral humility, smaller churches, and longer member tenure. Overall, higher church commitment is best predicted by perceptions of pastoral humility, then by tenure and church size, with larger churches having less committed attenders. No significant differences in church commitment were associated with age or gender.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2019

The needs and expectations of both Christians and non-Christians concerning churches vary accordi... more The needs and expectations of both Christians and non-Christians concerning churches vary according to the cultural context. Similarly, a church's ability to respond to these needs depends on its ability to fine-tune ministries so that they are appropriate to the cultural context. This study uncovers various elements of American church ministries (especially those that can be supported by technology) which church members consider important but which are poorly executed. A sample of 325 members of American churches indicated which ministries they considered most important and to what degree they believed that they were carried out well in their own church. A quadrant analysis indicated that welcoming visitors, keeping parents informed of what their children are learning, and keeping parents informed of issues that arise during church activities were aspects of ministry generally rated as very important but poorly executed.

Missiology: An International Review, Oct 2018

This grounded theory study examines the motives for relationships between local churches and miss... more This grounded theory study examines the motives for relationships between local churches and missionaries: What motivates churches to enter into a relationship with a missionary, to continue this relationship, and to end it? Similarly, what motivates missionaries to begin, continue, or end relationships with a local church? We used purposive stratified sampling to select 17 missionaries and church mission leaders to interview for this study. We performed semi-structured interviews with both groups to discover their understanding of why they form, maintain, and dissolve relationships with each other. Multiple motives influenced all participants. These motives can be broadly categorized as either relationship-focused motives or task-focused motives. Furthermore, the task-focused motives can either be centered on specific goals shared by churches and missionaries (e.g., starting a reproducing church among a specific people group) or on specific processes (e.g., evangelizing or feeding the poor). Although all participants had multiple motives, each participant emphasized some motives over others. The motives present in each party influence many aspects of their relationship, including their communication, financial involvement, and the purpose of the church's short-term mission trips to the missionary's setting. In contrast to social exchange theory which provides a framework to understand conditions under which a relationship will be maintained or ended, the Multiple Motive Theory of Church and Missionary Relationships goes further; it describes specific motives that exist which influence whether a relationship begins, continues, or ends.

Evangelical Review of Theology, 2019

The Mum effect is the natural human reluctance to share bad news with others, due to a desire to ... more The Mum effect is the natural human reluctance to share bad news with others, due to a desire to avoid a range of negative consequences, consequences affecting both self and the recipient of the bad news. Although the gospel is good news to those who believe, it may be viewed negatively by those who do not believe. Thus, Christians may be hesitant to share the gospel because of the negative consequences associated with the Mum effect. Because of the anonymity of the internet, social media is often filled with unre-strained criticism of Christianity. This may amplify the perceived negative consequences of sharing the gospel with unbelievers. In light of this cultural evolution, found now in the global north and increasingly present in the global south, Christian leaders can lead more effective ministries by distinguishing between outreach (building relationships in a way that makes the gospel attractive), witnessing (explaining how one has experienced God), and evangelism (sharing all that is necessary to make a decision for Christ), and by ensuring that all three occur in culturally relevant ways, carried out by individuals best equipped to do each, in a way consistent with the New Testament teaching on spiritual gifts. Specifically, outreach and witnessing can be done by all Christians who interact with non-Christians, whereas evangelism may be carried out, both on the individual level and in large groups, by those who are appropriately gifted. By addressing large groups in a more impersonal way, those gifted in evangelism may reduce the negative consequences of the Mum effect and build upon the outreach and witnessing done by others.

In E. Wan & M. Pocock (Eds.), Diaspora missiology (pp. 129-145). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library., 2015

Cross-cultural church planters often work with individuals from several cultures or with immigran... more Cross-cultural church planters often work with individuals from several cultures or with immigrants from one specific culture. These church planters can develop a more effective church planting strategy by understanding three models of acculturation, the process of how individuals respond and change when coming into contact with a new culture. The melting-pot one dimensional model describes how immigrants acculturate as time progresses, from one generation to another. The two dimensional acculturation strategies model describes what can be expected to happen to members of a diaspora population due to their views of both their host and home cultures. The social identity model of acculturation predicts immigrants’ desire to be member of a group based on what group membership contributes to their identity. All three models can be used to help choose an appropriate church planting strategy according to the context.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2020

Because the church is the body of Christ, research focused on evangelism and disciple-making need... more Because the church is the body of Christ, research focused on evangelism and disciple-making needs to be church-based. The goal of such research is to better share God’s love to a world who does not know him by building up a collection of knowledge that will enable us to do so. This research may be both theological (focusing on what the Bible and other theologians have said) and scientific (focusing on collecting new data and interpreting it, especially in light of theology). Church-based scientific research may be either qualitative (exploring broad ideas and phenomena in a relatively subjective way) or quantitative (testing specific ideas by collecting data measuring the variables of interest as objectively as possible). The Great Commission Research Journal is an especially appropriate outlet for publishing such research.

Theology of Leadership Journal, 2020

One of the main functions of church leadership in the New Testament is to help people participate... more One of the main functions of church leadership in the New Testament is to help people participate in ministry by serving others. However, church leaders may find it difficult to motivate lay volunteers, and even church staff, to do so. What are the factors that motivate ministry involvement? This paper examines the possible role of affective organizational commitment (the degree of emotional attachment to an organization) and work engagement (the degree to which one is immersed in and energized by one’s work) as motivating factors. A study of church members involved in ministry (N =336), including both lay volunteers and paid staff, was conducted to test whether both affective organizational commitment and work engagement predict ministry involvement. The results indicate that both organizational commitment and work engagement contribute to predicting ministry involvement of church staff and lay members. This relationship is true regardless of gender, tenure in the church, or church size. Work engagement is especially important for paid staff compared to lay volunteers. These results indicate that church leaders need to not only encourage commitment, but also to make sure that ministry is engaging and energizing for those who are serving.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2021

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many changes in the present socio-cultural context po... more The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many changes in the present socio-cultural context point to the importance of innovation in churches. A theoretical framework for understanding innovation in churches is presented, featuring 6 key elements. These elements include the cultural context of the church and the church's target audience, a culture of innovation within the church, innovations in church programs, processes, and personnel, social capital (social ties) which permits church members to navigate the changes associated with innovation, program loss (that which is lost when programs change), and progress toward the church's goals. The church's goals and the church's context determine which innovations would be most appropriate. A culture of innovation and strong social ties permit innovations to be implemented successfully. Program losses may reflect aspects of the church's goals that are neglected when innovations are implemented.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2021

The Missionary Family: Witness, Concerns, Care, 2014

Childhood sexual abuse of missionary children is a tragedy that mission organizations are seeking... more Childhood sexual abuse of missionary children is a tragedy that mission organizations are seeking to prevent. A second tragedy concerns missionaries falsely accused of sexual abuse. Psychotherapy that generated false memories of sexual abuse was common in the 1980s and 1990s and still continues to some degree today in Christian circles. This chapter reviews scientific evidence that such false memories exist and provides guidelines that Christian organizations may use to help sort true memories of childhood sexual abuse from false memories of childhood sexual abuse.

Great Commission Research Journal, 2024

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2024

Journal of Faith in the Academic Profession, 2024

Equipping for contemporary mission: Theological and Missiological proposals and case studies , 2024

Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 2024

Great Commission Research Journal, 2024

Great Commission Research Journal, 2014

In D. Baker & D. Hayward (Eds.), Serving Jesus with integrity: Ethics and accountability in mission (pp. 197-221). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library., 2010

Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 2010

Great Commission Research Journal, 2018

Theology of Leadership Journal, 2018

Great Commission Research Journal, 2019

Missiology: An International Review, Oct 2018

Evangelical Review of Theology, 2019

In E. Wan & M. Pocock (Eds.), Diaspora missiology (pp. 129-145). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library., 2015

Great Commission Research Journal, 2020

Theology of Leadership Journal, 2020

Great Commission Research Journal, 2021

The Missionary Family: Witness, Concerns, Care, 2014

Claremont, CA: Martel Press, 2012

Church planters and missionaries in France may not have any idea how important the early religiou... more Church planters and missionaries in France may not have any idea how important the early religious history of the country is to modern day residents. This survey of France’s religious history up to the year 1000 A.D. demonstrates that many of the beliefs that developed during this time are still quite relevant to twenty-first century France. By understanding these various currants, pastors and missionaries can build upon felt-needs experienced by the French in order to more effectively proclaim the gospel in a persuasive manner.

Writing from an evangelical perspective, David R. Dunaetz shares from his research and his ministry experiences from 17 years of church planting in France. He and his wife Karen started two churches in the eastern suburbs of Paris and helped several others move from missionary dependence to being fully self-supporting churches.

Voluntary organizations, which differ from other organizations in the way they reward and retain ... more Voluntary organizations, which differ from other organizations in the way they reward and retain members, can easily suffer setbacks from a loss of membership. Poorly managed conflict is often a source of attrition. This study examined the relationship between personality, conflict styles, and membership duration of people (N = 431) who attend or have attended churches (primarily Protestant churches), the most common form of voluntary association in America. Most of the Big 5 personality traits significantly predicted conflict styles and/or membership duration. Extraversion predicted higher preferences for collaboration and lower preferences for avoidance. Agreeableness predicted higher preferences for collaboration and accommodation, lower preferences for competition, and longer membership durations. Conscientiousness predicted higher preferences for collaboration and lower preferences for avoidance. Neuroticism predicted higher preferences for avoidance and lower preferences for collaboration and competition. Openness predicted shorter membership durations. The relationships between conflict styles and membership duration were less clear.

Claremont, CA: Martel Press, 2017

As a supplement to traditional textbooks on research methods in psychology and other social scien... more As a supplement to traditional textbooks on research methods in psychology and other social sciences, this book provides a series of outlines, discussion questions, and activities for classroom use. Because much real-world research is done in organizational contexts, survey applications are emphasized. The book is written from a Christian point of view, enabling and encouraging students to integrate biblical concepts concerning ethics and purpose into their research practices.

Claremont Graduate University, 2014

Interpersonal conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often a... more Interpersonal conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired but inevitable consequence of interaction between individuals. Multiple goals (internal representations of desired states) can be present in interpersonal conflict. Past studies identify four major categories of conflict-related goals: content goals, relationship goals, identity goals, and process goals; the last three may be classified together as social goals. Several hypotheses were tested in an online experiment in which adult members of evangelical churches (N = 276) imagined themselves in various church-related conflict situations. Participants were assigned to one of two conditions; in one condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were achieved and in the other condition, participants read scenarios where their content goals were not achieved. Each participant read a series of three scenarios involving the different types of social goals. For each of the three scenarios, they imagined how satisfied they would be with two different outcomes. In the first outcome, in addition to achieving or not achieving their content goal (depending on the condition), they did not achieve the social goal that was made salient (e.g., the relationship is damaged or they lose face); in the second outcome, they achieved this social goal. In addition, participants completed individual difference measures of dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity. This study found support for the hypothesis that the achievement of each type of conflict-related goal leads to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome than not achieving the goal. It also found support for the hypothesis
that the achievement of two conflict-related goals (specifically, a content goal and a social goal) interact to lead to greater satisfaction with the conflict outcome beyond the main effects of achieving each goal individually. Additionally, this study tested hypotheses that individual differences (dominance, sociability, face threat sensitivity, and justice sensitivity) moderate the relationship between conflict-related goal achievement and conflict outcome satisfaction. Support was only found for the hypothesis that individuals higher in sociability report greater differences in satisfaction when their relationship goals are achieved (relative to not achieved) than those who score lower in sociability. The results imply that, when both a content goal and a social goal are present, disputants are especially satisfied when both goals are achieved. Exploratory analyses also indicated females, younger adults, and people with greater church involvement responded more strongly to achieving goals than males, older adults, and those with less church involvement. This information can be used by disputants, negotiators, and mediators who are concerned about maximizing joint outcomes.

Claremont Graduate University, 2010

Conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired bu... more Conflict, a process involving perceptions of differences and opposition, is often an undesired but inevitable consequence of social interaction. This review describes the various goals (internal representations of desired states) that can be present in interpersonal conflict. Several streams of research are examined: conflict motivational models which examine the conflicting parties' motives, conflict types which classify conflicts by the parties' conscious focus, and desired outcome models which seek to identify what the parties in a conflict desire to happen. An integrative summary of these streams of research identifies four major categories of conflict goals: content goals, relationship goals, identity goals, and process goals. Further research is needed to clarify the nature of these goals, as well increase our understanding of the relationship between conflict goals, conflict outcomes, and conflict behavior in various contexts. Such research may lead to more constructive conflict management and more satisfying conflict resolution.

Claremont Graduate University, 2008

This meta-analysis of six studies demonstrates that preferred conflict styles are all predicted b... more This meta-analysis of six studies demonstrates that preferred conflict styles are all predicted by personality traits of the Big Five framework. Collaboration is predicted by high extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness and by low neuroticism. Competition is predicted by high extraversion and openness in younger adults and by low agreeableness in older adults. Avoidance is predicted by low extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness and by high neuroticism and agreeableness. Accommodation is predicted by high agreeableness and perhaps low extraversion. In addition, the predictive ability of conscientiousness for collaboration and avoidance is stronger in older adult populations than in younger adult populations.