Social Capital - Subject Baseline
This measure appears in the following time-points: Baseline.
Related Construct
Description of Measure
The Social Capital Inventory measures the connectedness an adolescent feels to his/her community (Nagin & Paternoster, 1994). This concept is explored along three dimensions: intergenerational closure (e.g., "How many of the parents of your friends know your parents?"), social integration (e.g., "How many of your teachers do your parents know by name?"), and perceived opportunity for work (e.g. "Employers around here often hire young people from this neighborhood?"). The measure contains 19 items; however, only 13 are considered in scoring. Higher scores indicate greater degree of community connectedness.
Originally, syntax was written to generate three scores, which match each of the dimensions noted above:
- Social Capital - Intergenerational closure (s0socap1; mean of 3 items)
- Social Capital - Social integration (s0socap2; mean of 5 items)
- Social Capital - Perceived opportunity for work (s0socap3; mean of 5 items)
These three scores, however, did not all demonstrate adequate fit to the baseline data when tested as individual factors (separate one factor CFAs). The values for each of these scales were:
- Intergenerational closure (items 07,08,09): 3 items alpha .73; RMR .096, GFI=.972 RMSEA = .137
- Social integration: items 10, 02, 03, 04, 11. alpha = .67, RMR=.047; GFI = .976 and RMSEA = .089
- Perceived opportunity for work (5 items: SocCap12, 13, 14, 15,16) : alpha = .76, RMR = .039; GFI = .981 and RMSEA = .094 (Note - items must be reversed scored before they are averaged)
The intergenerational closure scale presented particular problems and did not appear to fit the data well enough to use on its own. A new scale combining intergenerational closure and social integration was therefore created and this scale fit the data adequately as a single factor when tested using CFA. (alpha .74, RMR=.059, GFI = .954, RMSEA = .084).
This leaves three acceptable scales for social capital:
- Social Capital - Social integration [s0socap2]; mean of 5 items: 10, 2, 3, 4, 11
- Social Capital - Perceived opportunity for work [s0socap3]; mean of 5 items: 12, 13, 14, 15,16
- Social Capital - Closure+Integration [s0scclint]; mean of 8 items: 02, 03, 04, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11
References
- Nagin, D. S., and Paternoster, R. (1994). Personal capital and social control: the deterrence implications of a theory of individual differences of offending. Criminology, 32, 581-673.
- Williams, H.R., and Hawkins, R. (1986). Perceptual research on general deterrence: A Critical Overview. Law and Society Review, 20, 545-572.
- Grasmick, H.G. and Bursik, R.J., Jr. (1990). Conscience, significant others, and rational choice: extending the deterrence model. Law and Society Review, 24, 837-861.