Correlation between Social Capital and Success in the 21st Century - Research Paper Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL TITLE Correlation between Social Capital and Success in the 21st Century Table of Contents i.Correlation between Social Capital and Success in the 21st Century 1 1.0.Introduction 1 2.0.Literature Review 3 3.0.Research Methodology 6 3.1.Research Objective 6 3.2.Research Questions 7 3.3.Research Hypotheses 8 3.4.Research Variables 8 3.5.Measures for the Variables 9 3.6.Types of data 10 3.7.Methods of Data Collection 10 3.8.Sample Selection Process 10 4.0.Analysis of Data 11 5.0.Ethical Considerations 12 i. Correlation between Social Capital and Success in the 21st Century 1.0. Introduction There is growing empirical evidence that social capital will contribute significantly in the 21st century, especially when it is looked in terms of sustainable development. Success in the 21st century is to leave current and future generations as many, or more, social and economic opportunities as we have had it. However, the correlation between social capital and success in 21st century has to be pegged on the multiplicity of definitions that have been brought. In the contemporary business or social setup, the concept of social capital (like trust and reciprocity or the presence of networks) has borrowed much from Robert Putnam’s definition of social capital from the perspective of ‘Marking Democracy Work’ (Putnam 2001). On the other hand, social capital, when related to different aspect of success in 21st century can be defined as the goodwill that has been engendered by the fabric of social relations and which can be coordinated to facilitate action (Perna & Titus 2005). Relating this definition to the thesis statement (correlation between social capital and success in the 21st century), there is need to assess the impact of social capital from a management and societal perspective that reflects upon issues such as parental involvement on educational cohesion and enrolment, social fabric and rates of economic production. If we judge the success of the adoption of social capital in 21st century from different scholarly disciplines, then the concept of social capital is triumphant. However, critical approach has to be based on specific research questions that decipher the relationship between the term and success in 21st century. Like any other concept in contemporary fields of study, the success of the notion of social capital in 21st century have been matched only by its increasing ambiguity making it necessary to revisit the correlation between the two terms (social capital and success in 21st century). For these reasons we confine the research development on questions such as ‘What is the correlation between social capital and success in the 21st century?, what is the relationship between parental involvement as social capital and opportunity framework for a university student?’ 2.0. Literature Review One way of understanding the correlation between social capital and success in 21st century is to understand the key characteristics of social capital. The first characteristic relates to Robert Putnam’s key elements of the concept ‘measurements of consequence’ (Putman 2001). Measurements of consequence mean connecting among individuals---the norms of reciprocity and social networks and trustworthiness that arise from them (Woolcock 1998; Portes 2014; Putnam 2007). Based on this characteristic, it is apparent that social capital will create the goodwill available to people and groups in 21st century provided that key issues such as the structure and content of the actors is given consideration. Relating this argument from the perspective of Perna and Titus (2005) on “The Relationship between Parental Involvement as Social Capital and College Enrollment”, social capital creates success through bonding and bridging different facets of economy and social interaction---a distinction that has been popular in the literature that has helped to conceptualise different forms of social capital (see for instance Portes 2014). Dyllick & Hockerts (2002) put this point differently arguing that social capital helps bridge people together from different backgrounds as well as perspectives. Contrariwise, other studies are strongly opposed to the fact that social capital act as superglue that helps bring people together (Hooghe & Stolle 2003). Taking a case of current business organisations, bonding or bridging may not be a prerequisite with regard to a team in an organization practicing different organizational behaviors including Porter’s five forces. According to Hooghe & Stolle (2003) they disagree with authors inclined to the aspect of ‘bonding’ because they create ambiguities regarding the exact point where social capital resides. Hooghe & Stolle (2003) add that one point that they create in their assessment of the correlation between social capital and success in 21st century is that they generate ambiguity between social capital as collective characteristic and social capital as individual attribute. Meaning that almost all their viewpoints of measurement regarding social capital is confusing the difference between social capital as a social product, as social resource or as an individual response. With an exception of Hooghe & Stolle (2003) studies, all other proponents observed above have the problem. By contrast Hooghe & Stolle (2003) has clearly described social capital as individual factor and related its characteristics to specific successes in 21st century. The thrust regarding the correlation between social capital and success in 21st century has been positive generally (see for example Ireland & Hitt 1999). Furthermore, social capital at the economic and societal level have delivered positive economic and political outcome that have been based on the existence of intangible collective resources like reduced crime, local solidary, economic progress and common norms and trusting communities (Ireland & Hitt 1999; Damico 2016). However, there is need to provide answers to a question such as, “How is individual social capital creating organizational advantages for business?’ so that a connection can be found from previous argument from Perna and Titus (2005) view on structural constraints and resources. Citing both Bourdieu and Wacquant and Lin (2001b) in their argument, Perna and Titus (2005) noted that social capital significantly contributes to the success I 21st century when looked in terms of habitus. Structural characteristics of the school as the authors put it have restricted college enrollment through their influence on relationships and social network. Relating this view with the definition of social capital by, it means that the success of 21st century is pegged on the ability of institutions agents such as counselors or teachers to provide access to the needed resources as well as opportunities including information regarding learning institutions. These arguments help in conceptualizing the effectiveness of social capital when it comes to parental involvement as social capital and opportunity framework for different institutions for learning such as universities. However, there is need to deviate from the position Perna and Titus (2005) hold and instead, look at the correlation between the two variables (social capital and the success of 21st century) in terms of creation of organisational advantages for business. Scholars who have taken this position have argued from what they have termed as ‘bottom-up’ benefits of social capital (see McArdle et al. 2007). Based on these scholars, social capital creates organizational advantage for business because the term is embedded on economic action and social structure in 21st century. For the success of 21st century, social capital has been focusing on ways in which business advantage and networks of connections are generating trust as well as discouraging malfeasance as far as business advantage is concerned. Other scholars supporting this view have argued in terms of micro and macro business levels. For instance, Brooks & Muyia (2006) noted that there are different types of social capital at macro and micro levels that have been helping business determine the benefits and costs of businesses. There are other empirical evidences that have related the definitions of social capital with micro institutional issues (Boix & Posner 1996; Stokes et al. 2016; Sheil & Rivera 2016). Some of the findings from these scholars show that networks and local associations do have a positive influence on business related economic welfare and as a result play significant in promoting business activities needed in the 21st century. Through multivariate regression analysis, Campbell (2001) found that social capital is an important factor in current and next century and continues to contribute significantly when it comes to economic and household welfare. These views have been well supported by Putman (2001) who noted that through social capital, business engagement and civic engagement will be strengthened through state institutions. The challenge with these views is that they fail to articulate ways in which social capital can create an environment in which aspects such as civic engagement can be more likely thrive. “The East Asian Miracle” is another case that makes it difficult for this review to understand how researches by Campbell (2001); Putman (2001) provide correlation between social capital and business advantage in 21st century. The term ‘The East Asian Miracle’ actually embodies ways in which economies of East Asia were changed from low-productivity agrarian nation to the most rapidly growing industrial economy. The point is, for business advantage to be a success in 21st century then social capital should play a central role in economic transformation. This is the missing link in Putman (2001) and Campbell (2001) assessments. The conclusion that can be generated from scholars who have supported that fact that social capital helps in the success of 21st century business advantage have done so with evidence that managers from private sectors, extensive networks from society and business activities and governmental organizations have helped in the generation of business and industrial transformation (Valenzuela et al. 2009; O’Neill et al. 2015; Seale et al. 2015; Dahms 2015). 3.0. Research Methodology 3.1. Research Objective The objective of the research is to assess the correlation between social capital and success in the 21st century. The objective has been chosen since it is the broad point about what the research hopes to accomplish and the desired outcome from the process of researching. Since the proposal considers social capital as being a total potential resource among the related networks of individuals or groups the objective introduces what is missing from the literatures reviewed thus identifying the gap in knowledge. The gaps in knowledge as identified in the literature reviewed will thus provide the linkage or concordance between the identified objective and parts of other research questions as mentioned in the next section. Additionally, the objective has been chosen to help in having research plan, choosing interview theme and shaping the questions that will be asked during data collection. 3.2. Research Questions The following research questions have been identified with an aim of concretizing and solving research problems and or thesis statement: 1. What is the correlation between social capital and success in the 21st century? 2. What is the relationship between parental involvement as social capital and opportunity framework for a university student? 3. How is individual social capital creating organizational advantages for business? These research questions challenge assumptions and theories that have been used in social capital. That is, they test the validity and conformity of the assumptions and theoretical models that other studies have adopted in assessing the connection between social capital and success in 21st century. In such connection, the questions have been developed to be able to examine what the proposal considers as the scope, scalability, size and sustainability of the research topic. In so doing, the independent variable which is social capital becomes the main focus of this proposal. On the other hand, the questions bring the dependent variable which is the causal factor that tends to influence the problem of the research. 3.3. Research Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: social capital correlates with success in 21st century The hypothesis is directional where the research attempts to predict the expected outcome with regard to data collection and analysis tools that have been used. Secondly, the hypothesis has been adopted to test the relationship between the two variables. There is need to gain better comprehension of social capital within the context of aspects such as creations of organizational advantages for business. This view has been supported by Alvarado (2016) who argued that adoption of directional hypothesis in a study helps the research to decipher or discover ideas and insights since the variables are based on causal relationships. Thus, it is more than simply collecting and analysing data; it involves the use of qualitative and quantitative data collection in tandem so that the overall strength of a study is greater than either qualitative or quantitative research. 3.4. Research Variables i. Dependent variable: Success in 21st century The research will manipulate this variable to see if it makes the dependent variable change. In so doing, the dependent variable becomes the main focus of this proposal. ii. Independent variable: social capital Independent variables as stated include approaches that will be used as interventions and subject characteristics that directly influence dependent variables. Therefore data collection sub-section also describes how each variable will be measured. 3.5. Measures for the Variables The research adopts a rule for assigning labels to properties of different variables so that indicators of constructs are measured. In as much as studies such as Chavira et al. (2016) have suggested that four different levels of measurements should be used in a given study, the proposal however chooses one measurement as assessed below. These levels of measurement have been chosen because they determine the types of statistical package to be used (SPSS, ANOVA, Cronbach’s Alpha and Pearson Correlations). The first level of measurement the study uses is nominal level of measurement. The study will use symbols in the classification of observation. Contextualisation this level of measurement, there will be a survey on the relationship between social capital and success in 21st century. Therefore observations that will be gained from these variables will be sorted into two distinct but mutually exhaustive and exclusive categories where these observations are labelled in terms of elements such as Agree and Disagree or numbers such as 0 and 1. However, these categories will have to be defined so that all observations can be harmonised or fit into one category but no more than one at a given time (1=Absolutely agreed, 2= Agreed, 3=Neutral, 4=Not agreed). Finally, this case will employ numbers to be used as names just like it has been presented. This measurement will therefore help in the assessment of permissible statistics such as median, rank order correlation or percentiles. 3.6. Types of data In as much as the data can be categorised as process based data, outcome data, purpose data, logical data model, these fall under the category of either qualitative and quantitative. Beginning with quantitative, the research will obtain measures of counts or values which are expressed as numbers. The outcome of quantitative and qualitative data will enhance development of an initial understanding of the identified problem which, in the study, is the determination of social capital on the success of 21st century. 3.7. Methods of Data Collection The research uses mixed method of data collection as it enhances reliability of the data collected and the conclusions or deductions made therefore. The two data collection procedures used is: structured interviews and structured questionnaires. Additionally, these methods are intended to help the researcher answer the research questions by deciphering the respondents’ perception and awareness of social capital. 3.8. Sample Selection Process Based on the nature of the research and the targeted respondents, samples will be selected using stratified random sampling process. According to Sia & Ismail (2016) this is a probability sampling method that samples respondents based on possibilities. This method has been preferred ahead of other process such as systematic random sample and simple random sample because the research will be targeting a given strata (unique group) within the population. 4.0. Analysis of Data According to Sia & Ismail (2016), data analysis is a mechanism for reducing and organising data to produce findings that require interpretation by the researcher. The scores of the tests will be processed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and used in the quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis of the responses involved interpreting each aspect of the rubric according to the respondents’ view. Additionally, descriptive statistics (means and frequencies) will be utilised in the analysis. Along with various references such as SPSS textbooks, a statistician will be engaged to ensure accurate entering of data and correct test usage. Pearson’s Correlation analysis will be employed to decipher the relationship between different variables. The use of SPSS to carry out the quantitative analysis could strengthen the validity and reliability of the research. This is primarily due to the fact that it provides an opportunity through which, when the same data sets are entered, the same results will be achieved. This helps to increase the reliability and validity of the research. SPSS will also ensure that the results achieved can be verified and will contribute towards strengthening the overall issues and highlight the manner in which the research was carried out. Since data collected will be from different sources, the regression analysis such as ANOVA will be carried out to determine the extent to which these variables correlate. In this study, reliability of the instrument will be tested using Cronbach’s Alpha test in order to find out if they achieve a satisfactory level of acceptance. The Cronbanch is a method of measuring internal consistency when there is regression analysis. In this case, reliability coefficient of α = 0.7 if adopted, can denote an acceptable level of internal reliability since variables under investigation are between 2 and 5. 5.0. Ethical Considerations Based on the nature of the study, there are different elements that will constitute ethical considerations. First, the research intends to treat individual participants as autonomous agents. That is, the research will ensure that participants receive a full disclosure of the scope or nature of the study, the benefits and the risks and alternative that will be associated with the research. This will further provide an opportunity for the participants to ask questions. Secondly, we recognise that there will be need to protect persons with diminished autonomy. We recognise participants with diminished autonomy to be students in the university. As a result, we will design a method that will restrict this group of participants from being coerced to participate The identity of all the respondents will be kept anonymous and, in cases where a name will be used in, it will be a pseudonym. Secondly, each participant engaged in this study will do so voluntarily. Consequently, the responses will not be obtained through giving any compensation to the respondents. Before commencing the interview sessions, each respondent will be briefed on what the research involved. In regard to the questionnaires, the purpose of the study will be highlighted in an opening statement. Finally, the research will give forethought to the maximisation of the benefits but reduction of risks that are likely to occur from the research. References Alvarado, N., 2016. A study of Latino/a parents participating in the Bright Futures college preparation program and their perceived role in the college choice process. Boix, C. and Posner, D.N., 1996. Making Social Capital Work: A Review of Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work, Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (No. 96). Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Brooks, K. and Muyia Nafukho, F., 2006. Human resource development, social capital, emotional intelligence: Any link to productivity?. Journal of European Industrial Training, 30(2), pp.117-128. Campbell, C., 2001. 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