Social Capital An International Research Program [Paperback]

For two decades, a significant number of scholars have subscribed to a common definition of social capital (resources embedded in social networks), employed a standard measurement (the position generator methodology), and conducted original research. Their sustained efforts have demonstrated the power of the concept of social capital in diverse arenas of research and varied cultural and societal settings. Their work has contributed to the substantiation, development, and expansion of social capital as a key scientific concept and theory. This book presents an introduction to some of the most recent work in the area. The volume editors have brought together scholars in North America, Europe, and East Asia to offer original and accessible reports of their own research studies. Covering both methodological and substantive issues, they demonstrate the continued importance of social capital as a guiding concept and theory in social sciences today.

1. Theory, Measurement, and the Research Enterprise on Social Capital,Nan Lin
Part I: The Position Generator Methodology: its Reliability, Validity and Variation
2. Position generator measures and their relationship to other Social Capital measures,Martin Van der Gaag, Tom A. B. Snijders, Henk Flap
3. Position Generator and Actual Networks in Everyday Life: An Evaluation with Contact Diary,Yang-chih Fu
4. Social, cultural, and economic capital and job attainment: The position generator as a measure of cultural and economic resources,Henk Flap and Beate V?lker
5. The Formation of Social Capital among Chinese Urbanites: Theoretical Explanation and Empirical Evidence,Yanjie Bian
Part II: Mobilization of Social Capital
6. The Invisible Hand of Social Capital: An Exploratory Study,Nan Lin and Dan Ao
7. Social Resources and their effect on occupational attainment through the life course,Hester Moerbeek andlóY