Selection of social capital studies using the Position Generator

Source: measurement of individual social capital webpages http://www.xs4all.nl/~gaag/work. Additions are welcomed.

study title / study population, year of data collection / sample / N / ‘knowing’ criterion / # items used / reported in
Canada, Toronto, 1991-92 / security industry employees / 393 / 362 / "well enough to talk to" / 19 / Erickson, 1996
Canada, Toronto, 1995-96 / LET system members / 352 / "by name, have met" / 30 / Erickson, 1998
Canada, 200? / Erickson, 2004
China, Wuhan, ? / laid-off workers / 621 / network members first identified by Name Generators / 19
+11 work units / Zhao, 2002
Getting ahead in urban China / China, [urbanised districts of Tianjin], ? / ? / ? / ? / ? / Bian & Ang, 1997
Should auld acquaintance be forgot / Germany*, Leipzig and Dresden, 1989, 1992/93, 1994 / 30-55 yr old, employed before 1989 / 189, 126, 83, 300, 221 / ? / 33 / Völker, 1996; Völker & Flap, 1999
Hungarian stratification / Hungary, 1987 / population representative / ? / ? / ±24 / Angelusz & Tardos, 1991
Hungary, 1990s / ? / ? / ? / Angelusz & Tardos, 2001
Contacts and careers / Netherlands*, 1989, 1990 / higher educated job searchers / 365, 303 / "acquaintance, friend, or family member" / 40 / Boxman et al, 1991; Boxman, 1992
Telepanel / Saris / Netherlands, 1992 / approximately population representative / ±3,000 / "acquaintance, friend, or family member" / 30 / Moerbeek, 2001; Moerbeek & Need, 2003; Moerbeek & Flap, 2004
Survey of Social Networks of the Dutch / Netherlands, 1999/2000 / population representative / 1,007 / "well enough to recognise and talk to when met" / 30 / Bekkers et al, 2004; Van der Gaag & Snijders, 2003, 2004a, 2004b; Völker & Flap, 2004
Russia, 1995, 1999 / Russian entrepreneurs / 75, 56 / not stated / 12 / Batjargal, 2003
Taiwan, Taichung metropolitan area, 1992 / adults / 830 / "acquaintance, friend, or family member" / 20 / Hsung & Hwang, 1992
Taiwan, 1997 / population representative / 2,835 / "first name basis" / 15 / Lin et al, 2001
SAFIRE study / United Kingdom, London, 2004/5 / population representative / ±3,000 / “personally, not friends of friends” / 20 / Webber, personal communication
Albany study / United States, Albany, 1975 / population representative, males only / 339 / "first name basis" / 20 / Lin, Ensel & Vaughn, 1981; Lin & Dumin 1986; Lai et al, 1998
United States, ? / ? / ? / ? / ? / Belliveau, O’Reilly & Wade, 1996

Note: the 2003 Sunbelt social networks conference in Cancún, Mexico included a full session of new Position Generator studies. Most of these studies (which are not included in this list) will feature in a forthcoming work on Position Generator studies:

Lin, N.; Erickson, B. (eds.) ``Social capital: advances in research" (forthcoming). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

REFERENCES

Angelusz, R.; Tardos, R. (1991) The strength and weakness of ``Weakties.'' In: Somlai, P. (ed.) ``Values, networks, and cultural reproduction in Hungary.'' Budapest: The Coordinating Council of Programs.

Angelusz, R.; Tardos, R. (2001) Change and stability in social network resources: the case of Hungary under transformation. In: Lin, N.;Cook, K.; Burt, R.S. (eds.) ``Social capital: theory and research.'' New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Bekkers, R.; Völker, B.; Van der Gaag, M.P.J.; Flap, H.D. (2004) Social networks of participants in voluntary associations. Contribution to Lin, N. & Erickson, B. (eds.) "Social capital: advances in research" (forthcoming).

Belliveau, M.; O'Reilly, C.; Wade, J. 1996. Social capital at the top: the effects of social similarity and status on CEO compensation. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 1538-68.

Batjargal, B. (2003) Social capital and entrepreneurial performance in Russia: a longitudinal study. Organization Studies, May.

Bian, Y.; Ang, S. (1997) Guanxi networks and job mobility in China and Singapore. Social Forces 75:981-1006.

Boxman, E. (1992) Contacten en Carriere: een empirisch-theoretisch onderzoek naar de relatie tussen sociale netwerken en arbeidsmarktposities. [Contacts and careers: an empirical-theoretical investigation of the relationship between social networks and labour market positions.] Amsterdam: Thela Thesis (Ph.D thesis, University of Utrecht).

Boxman, E.; De Graaf, P.M.; Flap, H.D. (1991) The impact of social and human capital on the income attainment of Dutch managers. Social Networks 13:51-73.

Erickson, B.H. (1996) Culture, class, and connections. American Journal of Sociology 102:217-251.

Erickson, B.H. (1998) Social capital and its profits, local and global. Paper presented at the Sunbelt XVIII and 5th European International Conference on Social networks, Sitges, Spain.

Erickson, B.H. (2004) The distribution of gendered social capital in Canada. Pp.27-50 in: Flap, H. & Völker B. (eds.) “Creation and returns of Social Capital.'' London: Routledge.

Hsung, Ray-May; Hwang, Yih-Jih (1992) Job mobility in taiwan: job search methods and contacts status. Paper presented at the XII International Sunbelt conference on Social networks, february 13-17, San Diego, California, USA. A scanned version of this rare paper may be accessed via http://www2.thu.edu.tw/~social/teach14/mnpds2//files/Hsung1992(p1to15).pdf and http://www2.thu.edu.tw/~social/teach14/mnpds2//files/Hsung1992(p16to29).pdf

Lai, G.W.F.; Lin, N.; Leung, S.Y. (1998) Network resources, contact resources, and status attainment. Social Networks 20:159-178.

Lin, N.; Bian, Y. (1992) Getting ahead in urban China. AmericanJournal of Sociology 97:657-688.

Lin, N.; Dumin, M. (1986) Access to Occupations through Social Ties. Social Networks 8:365-385.

Lin, N.; Fu, Y.; Hsung, R. (2001) The Position Generator: measurementtechniques for social capital. In: Lin, N.; Cook, K.; Burt, R.S. (eds.)``Social capital: theory and research.'' New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Moerbeek, H. (2001) Friends and foes in the occupational career. Nijmegen: Thesis.

Moerbeek, H.; Flap, H. (2004) Social resources, modernisation and occupational attainment. Contribution to Lin, N. & Erickson, B. (eds.) ``Social capital: advances in research.'' New York: Aldine de Gruyter (forthcoming).

Moerbeek, H.; Need, A. (2003) Enemies at work: can they hinder your career? Social Networks 25:67-82.

Van der Gaag, M.P.J.; Snijders, T.A.B. (2003b) A comparison of measures for individual social capital. Paper presented at the conference "Creation and returns of Social Capital"; october 30-31, Amsterdam, TheNetherlands.

Van der Gaag, M.P.J.; Snijders, T.A.B. (2004a) Proposals for the measurement of individual social capital. pp.199-217 In: Flap, H. & Völker, B. (eds.) ``Creation and returns of Social Capital.'' London: Routledge.

Van der Gaag, M.P.J.; Snijders, T.A.B.; Flap, H.D. (2004) Position Generator measures and their relationship to other social capital measures.Contribution to Lin, N. & Erickson, B. (eds.) ``Social capital: advancesin research.'' New York: Aldine de Gruyter (forthcoming).

Völker, B. (1995) Should auld acquaintance be forgot...? Institutions of communism, the transition to capitalism and personal networks: the case of East Germany. Amsterdam: Thesis.

Völker, B.; Flap, H. (1999) Getting ahead in the GDR: social capital and status attainment under communism. Acta Sociologica 41(1):17-34.

Völker, B.; Flap, H. (2004) Social networks and performance at work: a study of the returns of social capital in doing one's job. Pp.172--196 in: Flap, H. & Völker, B. (eds.) ``Creation and returns of Social Capital.'' London: Routledge.

Zhao, Y. (2002) Measuring the social capital of laid-off Chinese workers. Current Sociology 50:555-571.