Do resources of network members help in help seeking? Social capital and health information search

Does social capital as resources of network members affect health information search? Analyzing data from the 2004 General Social Survey in the United States, this study measures two social capital indicators (average education of network members and proportion of network members with a high school degree or higher) using the name generator. Most results are consistent using those two indicators. Both indicators are positively associated with frequency of health information seeking and seekers’ frequency of use of two sources (friends or relatives and the Internet). Also average education of network members is positively associated with seekers’ diversity of used sources and frequency of consultation with medical professionals. But neither indicator is associated with seekers’ frequency of use of other four sources (health-related magazines or newsletters, general magazines, daily newspapers, and radio or television programs). The findings demonstrate the theoretical utility of social capital in the social dynamics of medical help-seeking.     

Testing the validity of social capital measures in the study of information and communication technologies

Social capital has been considered a cause and consequence of various uses of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, there is a growing divergence between how social capital is commonly measured in the study of ICTs and how it is measured in other fields. This departure raises questions about the validity of some of the most widely cited studies of social capital and ICTs. We compare the Internet Social Capital Scales (ISCS) developed by Williams [2006. On and off the ’net: scales for social capital in an online era. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 593–628. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00029.x] – a series of psychometric scales commonly used to measure ‘social capital’ – to established, structural measures of social capital: name, position, and resource generators. Based on a survey of 880 undergraduate students (the population to which the ISCS has been most frequently administered), we find that, unlike structural measures, the ISCS does not distinguish between the distinct constructs of bonding and bridging social capital. The ISCS does not have convergent validity with structural measures of bonding or bridging social capital; it does not measure the same concept as structural measures. The ISCS conflates social capital with the related constructs of social support and attachment. The ISCS does not measure perceived or actual social capital. These findings raise concerns about the interpretations of existing studies of ‘social capital’ and ICTs that are based on the ISCS. Given the absence of measurement validity, we urge those studying social capital to abandon the ISCS in favor of alternative approaches.     

Public broadcast of health communication: Extending public relations through social capital in Taiwan

This paper shows how a public media can effectively utilize its social capital, and integrate with different resources from the related non-profit organizations and corporations in public relations perspective. A case study of a high-popularity Taiwanese public traffic radio: Police Broadcasting Service (PBS) is conducted. The finding shows that the public radio can cost-effectively deliver health communication with the principle of social marketing.     

长三角创新资源的空间错配与调整政策——基于次级和县级区域的实证研究

依据对长江三角洲次级和县级区域资源配置现状的实证研究发现：一是长江三角洲区域在经历高速重化工业化的同时，开始跨入了内生增长模式的门槛，人力资本的贡献日益显现；二是越来越多的次级区域工业生产能力和技术创新能力正在超越北京、上海以及省会城市，由此国家的科技资源和高等教育资源也应当流向这些区域，使产业、科技、教育资源能够融合在同一个空间，以大大提高整个国家技术创新投入的收益；三是转变经济发展方式和实施创新型国家建设战略的真正落脚点是支持和推动更多的次级和县级区域建立高等教育体系，创造更多的人力资本，开展更多的技术创新活动，使更多的区域采取基于技术进步的增长战略。充足的证据表明，现在到了需要采取一个重视创新资源效率的区域增长战略的时候了。     

Testing the Vision: Preschool Settings as Places for Meeting,Bonding and Bridging

The OECD (2006 Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing: Paris) envisions early childhood education and care settings as meeting places for diverse social groups; places that build social capital. This vision was assessed in a comparison of three preschools types: full‐fee paying, subsidised‐fee and publicly funded. The social composition within each was examined and the connectedness of the children (n = 472) who attended compared. Publicly funded preschools had more socially diverse populations. The quantity of social connectedness did not differ but children in publicly funded preschools described higher quality social relationships. Not all preschool settings are socially diverse but, where they are, the quality of relationships is highest.     

历史不一定是发展史———中国古代都城形态史的解构

以往的研究认为中国古代都城城市形态的历史是一种前后相继的发展史，使用的主要研究方法就是对城市形态进行相似性比较，但这种方法在逻辑上存在根本性的问题，因此其结论是值得质疑的。基于对这一问题的研究，我们可以进一步认为，历史并不一定就是事物、事件之间有着密切联系、存在发展阶段以及变化规律可循的“发展史”，而可能只是由一些不存在密切联系，只是在时间上具有先后顺序的同类对象构成的历史。     

1981—2014年中国资本服务流量测算——基于截断正态退役分布和几何役龄效率剖面

通过梳理资本核算理论框架,结合中国实际情况测量了1981-2014年资本服务流量。资本分类、组合役龄效率-退役剖面计算、资本回报率确定和初始单位效率生产性资本存量估计等方面与既有研究有所不同。测量结果表明:按照1990年不变价格,各类资本服务流量呈增加趋势,其中无形资产服务流量前期较为波动;设备类服务流量增速最高;总资本服务增长率前期呈V型后期呈倒U型,与GDP增速变动不一致,整体来看前者高于后者;比较发现测量结果高于其它研究,差距先收敛后扩大。     

农村养老制度对家庭人力资本积累影响研究述评

自新增长理论形成以来，将养老保障制度与人力资本积累相联系进行研究成为社会保障、社会学等领域的研究热点之一。无论是国外的理论研究还是实证研究均表明，养老保障制度对于人力资本积累的影响作用是十分明显的。但我国目前理论界直接对养老保障制度与人力资本积累之间关系展开研究的尚属少数。因此，关于养老保障制度对家庭人力资本积累的影响研究的广度和深度均有待发掘。     

Spatial effects on individual social capital: Differentiating the constraints of local occupational structures

Recent studies have paid more attention to how position-generated social capital varies by an individual’s characteristics, and less to how geographical distributions of occupations may constrain position-specific connections. By integrating two national surveys from the United States, we differentiate the extent to which individual social capital fluctuates by occupational compositions at the county, metropolis, and state levels. Multilevel analyses show that when more people at all three levels work in education, training, and library occupations, residents have a greater chance to gain access to professional-type resources. Similar spatial effects on farming and production resources, however, are more apparent at the county level. Not only does the association between individual social capital and local occupational structures vary across different occupations, but the magnitude of such spatial effects also differs by the scope of the geographical areas. The findings underscore how contextual factors and geographical location may contribute to building occupation-specific network resources.     

Enhancing the social capital in industrial workplaces: Developing workplace interventions using intervention mapping

Social capital in the workplace has been found to be associated with employee wellbeing and work engagement. Yet, evidence of effects of interventions to enhance the social capital are lacking. The intervention mapping method has been described as a useful tool for developing workplace interventions but it is very resource consuming. We aimed to develop an adapted version of the intervention mapping method which is more practically feasible to apply. To get insight into strengths and weaknesses of the adapted method, we applied it and conducted interviews with staff at six companies. The interviews revealed that the action plans developed using the adapted intervention mapping method were generally perceived as relevant and that the action plans had a positive effect on the social capital. However, the implementation of the action plans had been a challenge. In conclusion, the adapted intervention mapping method appears to be suitable for developing interventions to enhance the social capital in the workplace. However, more attention to the implementation of the action plans needs to be incorporated into the method. Suggestions to enhance the implementation included the involvement of the management in the implementation and monitoring of the implementation of the action plans as well as integrating the action plans into existing procedures in the workplace.