Civic Engagement and Social Cohesion Measuring Dimensions of Social Capital to Inform Policy (2014) / Chapter Skim
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3 Prioritizing Measures and Framing a Data Collection Strategy
3 Prioritizing Measures and Framing a Data Collection Strategy
Pages 57-80
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From page 57... ...
Following this discussion, we consider in greater detail the role of causal and correlative evidence in establishing priorities, along with technical survey issues that create some additional data collection constraints. Accuracy and Validity Information must be sufficiently accurate to be viewed as credible and to allow researchers to investigate linkages among variables.
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From page 58... ...
In general -- beyond trust -- more research experiments are needed to interpret what is being measured by questions in surveys such as the CPS Civic Engagement Supplement and to begin understanding the accuracy of the data and their relationship to the underlying concept of interest. Nature and Strength of the Evidence Decisions about what data to collect should be guided by the ability of the information to reveal trends in health, crime, employment, resilience to shocks, and other outcomes of interest.
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From page 59... ...
This finding suggests an area of comparative advantage for the CPS Volunteer Supplement. Administrative data sources -- both government and nongovernment -- are becoming prominent in the alternative data landscape.
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From page 60... ...
For example, voting rates are comparatively easier to measure accurately and regularly than are multidimensional concepts like social cohesion, but that does not mean it is the "right" thing to measure for a given purpose. It is worth asking to what extent are the currently available data elements simply a function of what is feasible to collect, rather than a reflection of what the analytically optimal metrics would be.
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From page 61... ...
Illustrative Studies Statistical agencies, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget and with legislators, determine the content of the CPS and other major surveys modules.4 In making those decisions about social capital content, they need to answer the question, "what data have been most usefully applied in studies of and policies related to civic engagement, social cohesion, and other aspects of social capital? " In this section we selectively review the literature to provide an indication of the breadth and quality of evidence tying various components of social capital to 3 Some aspects of social capital have been shown to be higher in rural than urban areas (Coleman, 1990; Knowles and Anker, 1981; Krishna and Uphoff, 1999; Narayan and Pritchett, 1999; Putnam, 2000)
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From page 62... ...
The domains (each with at least some policy relevance) discussed are connectedness and social outcomes, the effects of neighborhood social capital on crime and public safety, social cohesion and community resiliency, home ownership and civic engagement, social connections and self-reported well-being, the health effects of isolation, and social capital and mental illness.
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From page 63... ...
Colussi (2013) explored the role of immigrant social networks and job search outcomes.
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From page 64... ...
; the role of neighborhood-level collective efficacy -- defined as "social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good -- in reducing violent crime" (Sampson et al., 1997) ; social order and violence (Sampson et al., 2008)
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From page 65... ...
Also, as described in the Introduction, there are cases in which highly fractured pursuits of collective efficacy undermine social cohesion; civic engagement and social cohesion do not always go together. For instance, the civil rights and women's movements were forms of civic engagement that were accused of undermining social cohesion.
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From page 66... ...
showed weak links -- relative to education, residential stability, and income -- between ownership and voting or civic engagement, calling into question tax policies favoring home ownership, as well as programs that promote low-income home ownership. Social Connections and Self-Reported Well-Being Self-reported (subjective)
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From page 67... ...
Lyons' interpretation of the data led to the conclusion that shared environments and selfselection both explain the clustering of obesity in social networks -- that is, people with lifestyles conducive to obesity may well gravitate toward one another. While debates about both descriptive inferences and the causal implications are extremely important, the central point here is that analyses such as the one by Fowler and Christakis are particularly valuable for investigating causal effects because of their longitudinal structure.
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From page 68... ...
, such that individuals closer to death may have decreased social support com pared to healthy individuals, the findings from these studies indicate that general community samples with strong social relationships are likely to remain alive longer than similar individuals with poor social relations. 12 The intertwined social capital, distribution of resources, and economic effects on health are discussed in Altschuler et al.
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From page 69... ...
Despite such challenges, "smoking represents the most extensively documented cause of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research." The link between social relationships and mortality is currently much less understood than other risk factors; nonetheless there is substantial experimental, cross-sectional, and pro spective evidence linking social relationships with multiple pathways associated with mortality. Existing models for reducing risk of mortal ity may be substantially strengthened by including social relationship factors.
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From page 70... ...
But if you actually measure stress, using our best available instruments, it can't hold a candle to social isolation. Social isolation is the best- stablished, most robust social or psychological risk factor for disease e out there.
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From page 71... ...
concluded that "the strength of the current evidence, in particular that from studies measuring ecological social capital, is inadequate to inform the need for or development of specific social capital interventions to combat mental illness." They recommended (p.
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From page 72... ...
Instrumental vari ables models suggest that the social capital effects may be regarded as causal, and causal mediation models suggest that the intervention effects on child outcomes are mediated by social capital. Compiler average causal effect (CACE)
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From page 73... ...
: "[D] o trust-building social networks lead to efficacious communities, or do successful communities generate these types of social ties?
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459) and that observational data does not go far in establishing an evidence base tying social capital variables to important social, economic, and health outcomes (p.
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From page 75... ...
, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods: [The project is] designed to produce a rich data set on attitudes among Chicago residents on a wide range of issues.
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From page 76... ...
Another important example is the work noted above on child outcomes that demonstrates how newer statistical model ing methods can be brought to bear in an experimental context to establish causal links and, because it deals with interventions, in a policy-explicit setting. • Data collected in the CPS Civic Engagement Supplement have not yet been successful in strengthening evidence of the casual links between various dimensions of social capital and impor tant economic, social, and health outcomes, nor have these data been used extensively in academic research.
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From page 77... ...
And -- though data collected from large population surveys have not been widely used in research attempting to advance understanding of the causal links between various elements of social capital and outcomes that can be affected by policy -- such data are still essential because of their value in providing descriptive information and because evidence continues to accumulate that phenomena described as social capital play an important role in the functioning of communities and the nation. 3.3. TECHNICAL SURVEY ISSUES Data quality and practical survey methodology issues are also important in constructing an overall data collection strategy -- that is, when considering what aspects of social capital should be given priority for measurement using the CPS supplements and which ones should be left for other surveys or for nonsurvey instruments.
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From page 78... ...
. These issues become even more critical if the civic engagement and volunteer supplements were to be combined into a single module.
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From page 79... ...
Sample Size We have repeatedly made the point that phenomena associated with civic engagement, social cohesion, and other dimensions of social capital are often most interesting when studied at neighborhood and community levels or for specific subpopulations; this has obvious implications for data collection. Again, from Hudson and Chapman (2002, p.
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From page 80... ...
.15 Proxy responses are particularly problematic for questions about attitudes. Two questions on the 2011 CPS Civic Engagement Supplement ("can you trust people in your neighborhood" and one asking about confidence in institutions)
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