Social Capital in ESDS Data Jo Wathan ESDS, Government.

Social Capital in ESDS Data

Jo WathanESDS, Government

In this hour…

• ESDS social capital resources• How is social capital measured in

government surveys• What data are available?• Research potential & how have the data

been used in research

ESDS Government:Social capital resources

• Social capital theme guide & web pages• Joint workshop with ONS• Research conference (with ESDS

longitudinal)• Social capital sections in the Scottish data

guide (& forthcoming NI guide)• Social capital teaching dataset based on

GHS 2000 Social Capital Module – coming soon

How is social capital measured in the social

surveys?

• Contentious, multifaceted, multifarious • Focus on the ONS harmonised question set• More data contains measures which could

be used as indicators of social capital, rather than full sets

Little fluffy cloud• Loosely defined nebulous concept• Putnam (2001) identified at least 6

‘inventions’ of ‘social capital’. Inc.:– Hanifan(1916): support and social intercourse– Jacobs (1960s): neighbourliness– Bourdieu & Schlicht (1980s): social and

economic resources embodied in social networks

• Concept is– Both individual and collective– Directly experienced but with indirect results– Covers a range of different aspects of social

interaction and participation

Most large scale surveys suitable for secondary

analysis are collected for policy purposes…

• Should always ask why data was collected

• Policy interest in social capital associated with social exclusion & 3rd way policy agenda

• Potential influence of policy issues on the manner in which concepts and operationalised

• Social exclusion unit has adopted the OECD definition of social exclusion – so has ONS

The OECD definition

Networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or

among groups

OECD, 2001

ONS view of social capitalcont’d...

• Bonding (Inclusive) - pulls tight, communities together, dense ties, ‘sociological superglue’ – Putnamgood for getting by – de Souza Briggs

• Bridging (Exclusive) – weaker ties across groups,‘sociological WD-40’ - Putnam better for getting ahead – de Souza Briggs

• Linking – linkages across levels of hierarchy

5 main aspects in ONS approach

• Civic participation (voting, taking action)• Social networks/support (contact with

friends/relatives)• Social participation (involvement with

groups/voluntary activities)• Reciprocity & trust (giving/receiving

favours, trust in other people)• Views about the local area

(satisfaction / problems with the area)

ONS harmonised question set(HQS)

• Closest thing we have to a ‘standard’ measure within surveys of this type at the moment?

• Run in GHS ’04, • will be run in HOCS ’07, SEH, HSE (older

people module ’05), FACS ’05 as well as local surveys (e.g. Liverpool and Camden LAs)

• Result of considerable methodological work• Available in a range of formats for use in a

range of survey types

• (AreaLive) How long have you lived in this area?• (SatLive) How satisfied are you with this area as a place to live?• (Nbackg) To what extent do you agree or disagree that this

neighbourhood is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?

• (NTrust) Would you say that Most of the people in your neighbourhood can be trusted...

• (SLost) Suppose you lost your (purse/wallet) containing your address details, and it was found inthe street by someone living in this neighbourhood. How likely is it that it would be returned to you with nothing missing?

• (Drunk) How much of a problem are people being drunk or rowdy in public places?

• (AntiNgh) How much of a problem are troublesome neighbours?• (SolvLP) In the last 12 months have you taken any of the following

actions in an attempt to solve– a problem affecting people in your local area?– SHOWCARD– 1. Contacted a local radio station, television station or

newspaper– 2. Contacted the appropriate organisation to deal with the

problem, such as the council– 3. Contacted a local councillor or MP– 4. Attended a public meeting or neighbourhood forum to discuss

local issues– 5. Attended a tenants’ or local residents’ group– 6. Attended a protest meeting or joined an action group...

HQS - examples

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital/downloads/harmonisation_steve_5.pdf

Not the only approach though….

• Surveys prior to 2004 may have social capital components using other question combinations

• However most surveys only pick up elements of social capital– Experience of crime – Contact with friends/family– Participation in political/voluntary organisation

Social capital: major sourcesSurvey When E,W,S,N Sample size Other topics Support

General Household Survey *

Soc cap mod2004,2000

GB only c. 10k households (only 1 int. per hhd for module)

Wide-rangingInc.Health, consumer durables

ESDS Government

Continuous Household Survey

Soc cap mod2003/42005/6

NI c.2.7k households

Wide-ranging akin to GHS

ESDS Government

British Household Panel Study

Panel 1991-different elements each wave

UK, with NIHPS NI boost

Original n: 5.5k hhds, + 2k hhds NI

Micro change: household, employment, education etc.

ESDS Longitudinal

Home Office Citizenship Survey *

Every 2 years from 01

England & Wales only

2003: core c. 10k + boosts of young & eth minorities

Employment racial prejudice, charitable giving

ESDS general – UK Data Archive

Omnibus Survey

Oct 03Nov 03Feb 04

GB Sums to 3712 with 483 16-24yo

Varies by month - classificatory

ESDS Government

Other Social Capital DataSurvey E, W, S, N Sample size Soc Cap topics Support

British Crime Survey

England & Wales

’02: c 36k inds in main + eth minority boost

Fear of crimeAnti-soc’l behvrSoc cap module since 01

ESDS Government – special conditions

British Social Attitudes Survey,

GB c. 3k respondents in ‘02

Political participationSocial trust

ESDS Government

Northern Ireland Life & Times

NI c. 2k in ‘03 01- social networks88- Crime/fear of crime

ESDS Government

Survey of English Housing

England c. 20k in 01/02 Local area satisfaction

ESDS Government

Time Use Survey

UK c. 6.5k in 00/1 Volunteering, caring, social activities

ESDS Government

More data sources in social capital guide

Focus on Northern Ireland

• Sample sizes for UK-wide surveys are generally not large enough unless boosted.– Largest sample sizes are on datasets which do not

have minimal use for social capital analyses on their own

– Time Use Survey only has 307 cases in NI in 00

• NI boosts and variants– BHPS variant is known as the NIHPS, separate

analyses undertaken by ARK since 2001– NILT, is successor to Northern Ireland Social Attitudes

Survey. NILT is supported by the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive www.ark.ac.uk

Research potential

• Microdata means you can use the data flexibly to apply explore definitions/operationalisation

• And apply multivariate techniques• Largish sample sizes means you can

identify and work with subpopulations• Merge years of data if n is not large enough

– Large samples, but still subject to sampling error

• Heirarchical data allows you look within families/households

Hierarchical data: conceptually

Household 1North West

Social rented

Household 2Wales

Owner occupier

Person 1HoH

Female28

GCSEP/T WorkNo LTILL

Person 2Son of HoH

Male12N/AN/A

No LTILL

Person 1 HoHMale33

DegreeF/T Employee

No LTILL

Person 2Spouse of HOH

Female31

DegreeP/T Employee

No LTILL

Person 3Parent of HoH

Female 72

No qualsEcon Inactive

LTILL

Neighbouring in later lifePerren et.al (2004) Sociology 38:5 965ff

• Looking at impact of gender and household composition on social relations with neighbours

• GHS 2000 • Draws on household

composition information• ‘Core’ GHS asked of all

members of the household• Social capital module only

asked of 1 person in the household

• Concludes that older people who are materially disadvantaged, also less likely to receive fewer favours

(1) Women living with others is the referencecategory (odds = 1.0).

Controls for: tenure, car, health, age, time at address

Source: General Household Survey, 2000 (authors’ analysis)

Young People and Social Capital Deviren & Babb (2005)

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/articles/nojournal/Social_capital_young_people.pdf

• Questions appropriate to all adults may not pick up on young peoples’ activity

• Alternative question set on Omnibus Survey

• Finds that young people have wider, more active social circles – but have lower levels of civic engagement than their elders

Who would you talk to if/when you were really upset

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70Spous

e*

Family

mem

ber*

Broth

er/s

ister

*

Boyfri

end/g

irlfrie

nd*

Paren

t or g

uard

ian*A fr

iend

*

percentageAge 16-24

Age 25 and over

• Health Survey for England 1993-95 – 3 years of data merged to give large enough n

• Social support based on 7 questions responses combined into a single scale to distinguish: no lack, some lack and severe lack of social support

• Socio-economic indicators are the most associated with physical ill-health indicators

• Lack of social support most associated with psychiatric morbidity (ie. Poor GHQ scores)

Health Inequalities in the older population: the role of personal capital,

social resources and socio-economic circumstances

Grundy & Sloggett (2003) Soc Sci & Med 56, 935ff

Summary• Nebulous concept• ONS moving towards harmonised question

set that will be the standard in many datasets

• Wide range of data available• Many datasets have component indicators

if not Soc Cap Modules• Data suited to flexible, multivariate

analyses on populations or subpopulations• Some data suited to hierarchical analyses• ESDS Social Capital theme pages

www.esds.ac.uk/government/themes/socialcapital/