Social capital: Its constructs and survey development

Abstract

This article reports on experiences and methods of adapting a valid adult social capital assessment to youth audiences in order to measure social capital and sense of place. The authors outline the process of adapting, revising, prepiloting, piloting, and administering a youth survey exploring young people's sense of community, involvement in the community, and the development of social capital. They then discuss the trade-offs of defining the often amorphous concepts included in social capital as they select measurement scales. The constructs used in the survey are agency, belonging, engagement, and trust for bonding, bridging, and linking forms of social capital.