Civic Engagement and Social Cohesion Measuring Dimensions of Social Capital to Inform Policy (2014) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 15-32
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From page 15... ...
Civic engagement, social cohesion, and other dimensions of social capital affect social, economic and health outcomes and, therefore, measurement of these phenomena is in the public interest. The development in 2000 of the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey by the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard University advanced the idea that distinct dimensions of social capital could be identified and measured.
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From page 16... ...
For half a century, the U.S. government has collected data and produced statistics on political participation and more general aspects of civic engagement; comparatively less has been done to measure social cohesion.
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The goal of the partnership was to insert relevant questions into federal surveys and, in particular, to establish a regular supplement to the CPS. In 2008, funded by CNCS, the November CPS supplement became the Voting and Civic Engagement Supplement; it included questions related to "civic health" in addition to those previously asked about voter and nonvoter characteristics and trends.
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, the first largescale measurement of social capital variables.4 From this foundation, the Saguaro Seminar convened an informal steering group of social scientists to advise on what questions should be included in the CPS supplement module.5 Since its beginning, the seminar's mission has been to improve social capital data and measurement and to investigate ways to build social capital at community and other levels. Countries other than the United States have recognized the public importance of civic engagement and social cohesion and have initiated data collection programs for their measurement.
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From page 19... ...
.10 • The effect of immigration and ethnic diversity on the social cohe 9 "Policy" extends to beyond government actions; corporations, universities, churches, charities, and other organizations also have policies that can be informed by data on civic health and elements of social capital. For example, many institutions have "diversity policies" that can be better informed through an understanding of society provided by government statistics.
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Data produced by government agencies that enter the official statistical system have common attributes, including high-quality standards, transparency, accessibility, and related professional norms. These norms guide practice in national statistical offices around the world and have been codified in principles promoted by the U.N.
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Many surveys are conducted less frequently or less regularly but, nevertheless, generate information that is useful to researchers and for descriptive monitoring purposes; the CPS supplements on civic engagement and volunteerism are examples. Over time, as knowledge deepens, these data may become essential to informing policy (or markets, or other kinds of decision makers)
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1.2. CHARGE TO THE PANEL Statement of Task The formal charge or statement of task to the Panel on Measuring Social and Civic Engagement and Social Cohesion in Surveys was as follows: The purpose of this study is to identify measurement approaches that can lead to improved understanding of civic engagement, social cohesion, and social capital -- and their potential role in explaining the functioning of society. With the needs of data users in mind, the panel will examine conceptual frameworks developed in the literature to determine prom ising measures and measurement methods for informing public policy discourse.
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From page 23... ...
Social cohesion refers to the extent to which groups -- from communities to nations -- are bound together by harmonious relations, work together, and feel obligated to act toward common purpose. Social cohesion is difficult to measure, given its many and complex dimensions: a shared sense of morality, values, and common purpose; levels of social order; extent of social solidarity created by income and wealth equalities; social interaction within and across communities or families; and sense of belonging to place.
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From page 24... ...
. These constructs, though malleable, are treated in this report with as much specificity as feasible -- thus, for example, we refer to voting, neighborhood resilience, and connectedness with friends rather than civic engagement, social cohesion, and social capital, except when a label is needed to denote the full breadth of phenomena under consideration.
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For example, we would not expect to find general public agreement on the optimum rate of divorce, let alone how heavily to weigh that variable in a civic health index. Consequently, the panel decided to focus on the more measureable and agreed-upon dimensions of social capital, focusing on civic engagement and social cohesion.
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From page 26... ...
Our primary focus, however, is the appropriate role of the federal statistical system in improving measurement of social capital through its population surveys. The recommendations and conclusions herein acknowledge the growing importance of building strategies capable of exploiting the potential of nonsurvey data to supplement and work in coordination with the more traditional (and, at this point, more scientifically established)
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. Although elements of social capital, social cohesion, and civic engagement can be sensibly grouped into broader domains, it does not follow that these elements add up to a meaningful, overall measure that could be used as a key national indicator or monitoring statistic.
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Many national statistical offices are pursuing data collection in the area of subjective well-being, and connectedness, civic engagement, and governance are frequently identified "domains" (along with more traditional ones, such as income, environment and health) that figure prominently in this work.18 The domains of well-being identified in Stiglitz et al.
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From page 29... ...
Their finding that upward mobility patterns for local areas (defined by census commuting zone) correlated significantly with extent of residential segregation by income, school quality, a social capital index, and other variables related to civic engagement and community cohesiveness is indicative of the salient connections between these phenomena and the topics central to this report.
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From page 30... ...
, which oversee government data collection; the Corporation for National and Community Service, the study's sponsor, responsible for fielding the most useful CPS Civic Engagement and Volunteer supplements possible; academic researchers, who have advanced the broader understanding of social capital dimensions and established the need to measure them; national and local policy makers who, ideally, put research findings to good use; community-based organizations that often are best positioned to enhance or initiate programs related to civic engagement and community betterment; and the general public, which benefits from information about its society. 1.3. REPORT STRUCTURE The remainder of the report is structured as follows: Chapter 2 identifies and defines the key measurement constructs that have been raised in this introduction.
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From page 31... ...
and nongovernment data strategies are discussed, along with experimental approaches that may involve pilot studies, public/private collaborations and partnerships, and exploitation of emerging technologies. These final chapters lay out next steps and a number of recommendations for advancing concepts, methodology, data collection, and research.
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