OBJECTIVE This study tested a multilevel model examining the effects of work-unit structural empowerment and social capital on perceptions of unit effectiveness and nurses' ratings of patient care quality. BACKGROUND Structural empowerment and social capital are valuable resources for staff nurses that promote work effectiveness and high-quality patient care. No studies have examined social c...

This study aims to determine the effect of bonding, bridging and linking social capital on the empowerment among squatter settlements in Tehran, Iran. The sample comprised 328 poor people in two communities from Iran, which were randomly selected for the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection method. The perceived bonding, bridging and linking social capital wa...

Background. In China, and throughout the world, there is everincreasing interest in civic engagement and older adults. Civic engagement can be construed as an element of the broader theoretical framework of social capital. Social capital, which has been defined as “features of social organisations such as networks, norms, and trust, that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefi...

1. Introduction Broadly understood, social capital refers to various types of community relationships that affect individual outcomes. As such, social capital is involved in many of the areas of current social science research where the explicitly social determinants of behavior are fundamental. Since Loury (1977) introduced it into modern social science research and Coleman's (1988) seminal st...

Studies on social networks highlight the importance of network structure or structural properties of a given network and its impact on performance outcome. The empirical validation of the association between network structures and performance has been well documented in a number of recent studies. One of the important properties of this network structure is referred as “social capital” which is...

Does the socioeconomic status (SES) that one's (ego's) network members (alters) occupy indicate social resources or social comparison standards in the dynamics of health across culture? Using nationally representative data simultaneously collected from the United States and urban China, this study examines two competing theories-social capital and comparative reference group-in the two societie...

Numerous studies have linked the constructs of social capital with behaviours that are health enhancing. The factors of social trust, social cohesion, sense of belonging, civic involvement, volunteer activity, social engagement and social reciprocity are all associated with social capital and their existence is often linked with communities or settings where health enhancement is high. Utilizin...

Much research has been done on the favourable influence of social environment and social networks on knowledge production. The aim of this article is to design a theoretical framework where both information behaviour (IB) research and social capital (SC) research are integrated. Integrating these areas is seen as an advantage when focusing on the social construction of knowledge, and a model is...