ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter starts by providing an overview of background information essential to understanding the context of the study. After defining the key terms and introducing the main research questions and sub-questions that are guiding the study, the chapter proceeds to describing the theoretical framework and methodological approach of the study. These include, primarily, the choice of social capital theory among other theories of civil society and second, all choices related to empirical data, such as selection of study participants, methods of data collection and data analysis and the author's approach to enhancing validity of the study. The chapter closes with introducing the outline of the book and briefly discussing the content of the main chapters in relation to the main research question that the book is attempting to address.
