Researchers Spar on Question of How Much Americans Give to Charity

By STEPHEN G. GREENE

The elusive answer to the question of how much money Americans give to charity is at the core of a flap involving teams of researchers who study that problem.

Two scholars at Boston College have concluded that the average U.S. household gave more than $1,000 to charity in 1995 -- the latest year for which data are available. By contrast, Independent Sector, in its widely circulated biennial survey on giving and volunteering, estimated household giving that