De Silva Mary J, Harpham Trudy, Tuan Tran, Bartolini Rosario, Penny Mary E, Huttly Sharon R
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2006 Feb;62(4):941-53. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.050. Epub 2005 Aug 10.
Social capital is a relatively new concept which has attracted significant attention in recent years. No consensus has yet been reached on how to measure social capital, resulting in a large number of different tools available. While psychometric validation methods such as factor analysis have been used by a few studies to assess the internal validity of some tools, these techniques rely on data already collected by the tool and are therefore not capable of eliciting what the questions are actually measuring. The Young Lives (YL) study includes quantitative measures of caregiver's social capital in four countries (Vietnam, Peru, Ethiopia, and India) using a short version of the Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool (SASCAT). A range of different psychometric methods including factor analysis were used to evaluate the construct validity of SASCAT in Peru and Vietnam. In addition, qualitative cognitive interviews with 20 respondents from Peru and 24 respondents from Vietnam were conducted to explore what each question is actually measuring. We argue that psychometric validation techniques alone are not sufficient to adequately validate multi-faceted social capital tools for use in different cultural settings. Psychometric techniques show SASCAT to be a valid tool reflecting known constructs and displaying postulated links with other variables. However, results from the cognitive interviews present a more mixed picture with some questions being appropriately interpreted by respondents, and others displaying significant differences between what the researchers intended them to measure and what they actually do. Using evidence from a range of methods of assessing validity has enabled the modification of an existing instrument into a valid and low cost tool designed to measure social capital within larger surveys in Peru and Vietnam, with the potential for use in other developing countries following local piloting and cultural adaptation of the tool.
社会资本是一个相对较新的概念，近年来受到了广泛关注。关于如何衡量社会资本尚未达成共识，这导致了大量不同的测量工具。虽然一些研究使用了诸如因子分析等心理测量验证方法来评估某些工具的内部效度，但这些技术依赖于该工具已经收集的数据，因此无法确定这些问题实际测量的是什么。“青年生活”（YL）研究在四个国家（越南、秘鲁、埃塞俄比亚和印度）使用简化版的适应性社会资本评估工具（SASCAT）对照顾者的社会资本进行了量化测量。包括因子分析在内的一系列不同的心理测量方法被用于评估SASCAT在秘鲁和越南的结构效度。此外，还对来自秘鲁的20名受访者和来自越南的24名受访者进行了定性认知访谈，以探究每个问题实际测量的内容。我们认为，仅靠心理测量验证技术不足以充分验证用于不同文化背景的多维度社会资本工具。心理测量技术表明SASCAT是一个有效的工具，能够反映已知的结构，并显示与其他变量的假定联系。然而，认知访谈的结果呈现出更为复杂的情况，一些问题受访者能够正确理解，而另一些问题在研究者期望测量的内容与实际测量的内容之间存在显著差异。利用一系列评估效度的方法所获得的证据，已使一个现有工具得以改进，成为一个有效且低成本的工具，旨在在秘鲁和越南的大规模调查中测量社会资本，并有可能在该工具经过当地试点和文化调适后应用于其他发展中国家。
