Doctoral Dissertation Research: Participation and Social Capital Creation

在发展社会资本概念的过程中，社会学家将资本的一般含义-对获取或创造一种资源的投资，期望获得超过初始投资成本的回报-扩展到社交网络。 社会资本是指社会关系对个人经济地位的生产性利益，以及保护紧密联系的同质社区的社会资源的力量。 该项目建立在社会资本概念的社会网络基础上，以确定1）参与某些类型的组织和活动如何影响个人的社会资本，以及2）个人的社会资本水平如何影响经济成功，宽容，健康和幸福。 为了回答这些问题，该项目从发送给佛罗里达迈阿密1000户家庭的问卷中收集数据。 这些数据衡量了参与政治、公民、宗教、工作和非正式组织的情况;社会网络与代表性职业的关系;以及与经济地位、健康、幸福和宽容有关的个人特征。 对数据的分析可以确定社会资本是如何产生的，它可以给个人带来什么好处，以及它是否会因参与某些类型组织的减少而受到损害。

In developing the concept of social capital, sociologists have extended the general meaning of capital - the investment in the acquisition or creation of a resource with the expectation of a return beyond the cost of the initial investment - to apply to social networks. Social capital refers to both the productive benefits of social relationships for the economic status of individuals, and the forces that act to preserve the social resources of densely-connected, homogenous communities. This project builds on the social network foundations of the concept of social capital to determine how 1) participation in certain types of organizations and activities affects an individual's social capital, and 2) an individual's level of social capital affects economic success, tolerance, health, and happiness. To answer these questions, the project gathers data from a questionnaire sent to 1000 households in Miami, Florida. The data measure participation in political, civic, religious, work, and informal organizations; social network ties to persons in a representative set of occupations; and personal characteristics relating to economic status, health, happiness, and tolerance. Analysis of the data identifies how social capital is created, what benefits it can bring to individuals, and if it is harmed by the decline in participation in certain types of organizations.