ABSTRACT
This chapter provides both a useful discussion of the major works in the literature and an overview of approaches and problems in applied social capital research. It also discusses the development of social capital measures. Social is a relatively new adjective to describe a certain type of capital, only coming into common use in the past few decades. The three main theorists on social capital offer both different definitions of social capital and theoretical frameworks on which to base empirical research namely a social network, trust, and social norms. The Social Capital Thematic Group within the World Bank has two tools for assessing social capital: Social Capital Assessment Tool (SOCAT) and the Social Capital Integrated Questionnaire (SOCAPIQ). SOCAT is an instrument designed to collect information about social capital at the household and community organizational levels. Adam and Roncevic describe Bourdieu's definition of social capital to focus on egocentric outcomes and Coleman's definition focuses on sociocentric outcomes of social capital.
