ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the problem of measuring the social effects of community- based interventions. It outlines the theoretical assumptions about community social structure and functioning that drive these interventions, focusing on one set of efforts—comprehensive community initiatives. The chapter describes the nature of these interventions, the dilemmas of evaluation that face them, and the state of evaluation technology within them. It reviews several ways of understanding community strength and “social fabric,” outlines some of the constructs that are used to define it. In addition to building organizational and individual assets and attempting to enhance levels of satisfaction with and the affective connection residents feel toward their community, many community-building efforts focus on community social structure—“concrete social relationships among specific social actors”. The clearer the theory of change that drives community-based practice, the more guidance it can provide to both practice and evaluation.
