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Measuring
Social Capital in Grand Rapids
[Community
Highlights] [Press Release] [Survey
Highlights]
Among the hundreds
of different measures of social capital in the Social Capital Benchmark
Survey, certain communities can be broadly described as being more or
less socially connected. But out of the survey, 11 specific dimensions
of social capital emerged that provide greater detail about a community's
level of social capital. This allows participants in the survey, like
Grand Rapids, to not only say whether they are socially connected or not,
but where they are doing well and where improvements need to be made.
The 11 key dimensions
of social capital that emerged from the national survey are:
- Social trust-the
extent to which members of the community trust other people in general,
including neighbors, co-workers, shop clerks, police.
- Racial trust-the
extent to which members of the community trust people of different racial
groups.
- Conventional politics
participation-how many in the community are registered to vote, actually
vote, express interest in politics, are knowledgeable about political
issues and read the newspaper regularly.
- Activist politics
participation-the extent to which people take part in marches, boycotts,
rallies, and groups seeking reform.
- Civic leadership-engagement
in civic groups, clubs and local discussions in city or school affairs,
and how often people take leadership roles in these groups and issues.
- Associational involvement-participation
in associations or groups ranging from sports leagues, neighborhood
associations, labor unions, professional trade groups, hobby groups,
etc.
- Informal socializing-the
degree to which people have friends over to their home, socialize with
co-workers away from work, visit with relatives.
- Diversity of friendships-the
degree to which a people's social networks include people of different
races, economic classes, faiths.
- Giving and volunteering-how
much people give to charities and how much time they spend volunteering
for local charities.
- Faith-based engagement-religious
membership and attendance, participation in church activities other
than worship, giving to religious causes, volunteering at places of
worship.
- Equality of civic
engagement-a composite correlation of civic participation across race,
income, and education levels.
add-1 / Grand Rapids
Community Foundation / Grand Rapids social capital measures
The National Social
Capital Benchmark Survey rated the participating communities by a "community
quotient" (CQ), which is a measure of expected levels of social capital
given a communities particular demographics. The CQ is based on a median
of 100 being the expected level. Thus, numbers greater than 100 reflect
a higher than expected level of social capital for that category, and
numbers below 100 indicate areas for improvement.
The following chart
shows the CQ measure of social capital in Grand Rapids for each of the
11 key dimensions of social capital.
Social Capital in
Grand Rapids
Dimension of social capital Community Quotient score (100 = expectation)
Social trust 111
Racial trust 108
Conventional politics participation 96
Activist politics participation 102
Civic leadership 99
Associational involvement 116
Informal socializing 99
Diversity of friendships 100
Giving and volunteering 123
Faith-based engagement 119
Equity of civic engagement 103
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