TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring Social Capital in the Republic of Korea with Mixed Methods
T2 - Application of Factor Analysis and Fuzzy-Set Ideal Type Approach
AU - Chung, Soondool
AU - Choi, Hyeji
AU - Lee, Sophia Seung yoon
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2010-330-B00209).
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - Variation in the concept of social capital casts difficulties in measurements; moreover, measuring social capital requires different methods because concepts can differ by countries, regions and also according to the conceptual attributes included in the concept. Discussion on social capital has been gaining much attention in also East Asia, where Confucianism and family oriented values are suggested to be an important cultural background. This study aims to first critically review research on social capital not only in Korea, but also elsewhere, with a focus on measurements and indicators. By highlighting the importance of developing measurement that can reflect the cultural context of social capital, we compose survey questionnaires, which include multiple aspects of social capital and conduct an investigation on Korean social capital. Then, we exploit factor analysis with these questions. Next, with results from the factor analysis above, we employ the method of fuzzy set ideal type approach in order to measure social capital in Korea according to different demographic groups. The results suggest that people with low education and low income have difficulties participating in the society through interactions, even when their trust toward the society and their consciousness regarding the norm are similar to those of the other groups in Korea.
AB - Variation in the concept of social capital casts difficulties in measurements; moreover, measuring social capital requires different methods because concepts can differ by countries, regions and also according to the conceptual attributes included in the concept. Discussion on social capital has been gaining much attention in also East Asia, where Confucianism and family oriented values are suggested to be an important cultural background. This study aims to first critically review research on social capital not only in Korea, but also elsewhere, with a focus on measurements and indicators. By highlighting the importance of developing measurement that can reflect the cultural context of social capital, we compose survey questionnaires, which include multiple aspects of social capital and conduct an investigation on Korean social capital. Then, we exploit factor analysis with these questions. Next, with results from the factor analysis above, we employ the method of fuzzy set ideal type approach in order to measure social capital in Korea according to different demographic groups. The results suggest that people with low education and low income have difficulties participating in the society through interactions, even when their trust toward the society and their consciousness regarding the norm are similar to those of the other groups in Korea.
KW - Factor analysis
KW - Fuzzy-set ideal type approach
KW - Mixed methods
KW - Republic of Korea
KW - Social capital
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84897944382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11205-013-0341-8
DO - 10.1007/s11205-013-0341-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84897944382
VL - 117
SP - 45
EP - 64
JO - Social Indicators Research
JF - Social Indicators Research
SN - 0303-8300
IS - 1
ER -