Spencer Moore

The Privileging of Communitarian Ideas: Citation Practices and the Translation of Social Capital Into Public Health Research

The growing use of social science constructs in public health invites reflection on how public health researchers translate, that is, appropriate and reshape, constructs from the social sciences. To assess how 1 recently popular construct has been translated into public health research, we conducted a citation network and content analysis of public health articles on the topic of social capital. The analyses document empirically how public health researchers have privileged communitarian definitions of social capital and marginalized network definitions in their citation practices. Such practices limit the way public health researchers measure social capitals effects on health. The application of social science constructs requires that public health scholars be sensitive to how their own citation habits shape research and knowledge.

Lost in translation: a genealogy of the “social capital” concept in public health

Study objective: To examine the genealogy of the social capital concept in public health, with attention to the epistemological concerns and academic practices that shaped the way in which this concept was translated into public health. Design: A citation-network path analysis of the public health literature on social capital was used to generate a genealogy of the social capital concept in public health. The analysis identifies the intellectual sources, influential texts, and developments in the conceptualisation of social capital in public health. Participants: The population of 227 texts (articles, books, reports) was selected in two phases. Phase 1 texts were articles in the PubMed database with “social capital” in their title published before 2003 (nu200a=u200a65). Phase 2 texts are those texts cited more than once by phase 1 articles (nu200a=u200a165). Main results: The analysis shows how the scholarship of Robert Putnam has been absorbed into public health research, how three seminal texts appearing in 1996 and 1997 helped shape the communitarian form that the social capital concept has assumed in public health, and how both were influenced by the epistemological context of social epidemiology at the time. Conclusions: Originally viewed in public health research as an ecological level, psychosocial mechanism that might mediate the income inequality-health pathway, the dominance of the communitarian approach to social capital has given disproportionate attention to normative and associational properties of places. Network approaches to social capital were lost in this translation. Recovering them is key to a full translation and conceptualisation of social capital in public health.

Effect of Network Social Capital on the Chances of Smoking Relapse: A Two-Year Follow-up Study of Urban-Dwelling Adults

OBJECTIVESnWe sought to examine the prospective influence of social capital and social network ties on smoking relapse among adults.nnnMETHODSnIn 2010, a 2-year follow-up study was conducted with the 2008 Montreal Neighborhood Networks and Healthy Aging Study (MoNNET-HA) participants. We asked participants in 2008 and 2010 whether they had smoked in the past 30 days. Position and name generators were used to collect data on social capital and social connections. We used multilevel logistic analysis adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors to predict smoking relapse in 2010.nnnRESULTSnOf the 1400 MoNNET-HA follow-up participants, 1087 were nonsmokers in 2008. Among nonsmokers, 42 were smokers in 2010. Results revealed that participants with higher network social capital were less likely (odds ratio [OR]u2009=u20090.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]u2009=u20090.47, 0.96), whereas socially isolated participants (ORu2009=u20093.69; 95% CIu2009=u20091.36, 10.01) or those who had ties to smokers within the household (ORu2009=u20094.22; 95% CIu2009=u20091.52, 11.73) were more likely to report smoking in 2010.nnnCONCLUSIONSnSocial network capital reduced the chances of smoking relapse. Smoking cessation programs might aim to increase network diversity so as to prevent relapse.

IS EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY PROTECTIVE

Galea and Ahern1 examined the ecological association between educational distribution and a range of population health outcomes. In one of their findings, Galea and Ahern reported that higher levels of educational inequality within New York City neighborhoods were associated with lower percentages of low birthweight. The finding contradicts the more frequently found association between higher levels of income-related inequality and unfavorable population health outcomes. Is neighborhood educational inequality protective of population health? n nGiven the provocative nature of this question, we sought to examine the ecological association of educational inequality and percentage of low-birthweight infants in Montreal. We measured area-level education and calculated the educational Gini coefficient. We found a high degree of collinearity between measures of mean education and educational Gini coefficient (−0.89; P <.001). This collinearity yielded models susceptible to unstable coefficient estimation. n nGalea and Ahern reported a similarly high degree of correlation between mean education and education Gini measures (−0.84; P <.01) in their analyses. Areas with higher average education tend to have lower levels of educational inequality. Considerable collinearity between mean education and educational Gini coefficient may account for the change in the direction of the β coefficient for the education Gini coefficient, as reported by Galea and Ahern when they introduced their mean education variable to the previous bivariate regression of the percentage of low-birthweight infants on the education Gini coefficient. Variance inflation factor values increased from 1.0 to 5.2 when we added mean education to our bivariate model; we observed a more modest increase from 1.0 to 1.5 when we used alternative measures of education (percentage of adults with at least a college degree) and educational distribution (standard deviation in schooling). Correlated factors that may act as confounders or effect modifiers should potentially be omitted from analysis because biased estimates may result, particularly in ecological regression.2,3 An ostensibly positive relation between educational inequality and favorable health outcomes may constitute no more than a statistical artifact. The potential political consequences of accepting the conclusion that a form of social inequality might be beneficial for health requires attention to assumptions underpinning statistical conclusion validity. n nA number of differences between our investigation and that of Galea and Ahern should be mentioned. First, Canadian census data do not allow the same level of discrimination in educational attainment that Galea and Ahern achieved. Second, we examined the ecological association at a smaller area of analysis (census tract) than Galea and Ahern (district level). Whether these differences have corresponding implications on the hypothesized association between educational inequality and population health remains a topic for further research. As few such studies have been published, we suggest that the considerable collinearity found between mean education and educational Gini coefficient precludes general acceptance of the conclusion that neighborhood-level educational inequality is protective of population health.

The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure

BackgroundKnowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes.MethodsOrganizational surveys were conducted with representatives from AHLN organizations as of February 2004 (n = 54). Organizational attribute and inter-organizational data on various network dimensions were collected. Organizations were classified into traditional and non-traditional categories. We examined the partnership network dimension. In- and out-degree centrality scores on partnership ties were calculated for each organization and tested against organizational perceptions of available financial support.ResultsNon-traditional organizations are more likely to view financial support as more readily available for their HEALTR programs and activities than traditional organizations (1.57, 95% CI: .34, 2.79). After controlling for organizational characteristics, organizations that have been frequently identified by other organizations as valuable partners in the AHLN network were found significantly more likely to perceive a higher sense of funding availability (In-degree partnership value) (.03, 95% CI: .01, .05).ConclusionOrganizational perceptions of a supportive environment are framed not only by organizational characteristics but also by an organizations position in an inter-organizational network. Network contexts can influence the way that organizations perceive their environment and potentially the actions that organizations may take in light of such perceptions. By developing evidence-based understandings on the influence of network contexts, the AHLN can better target the particularities of its specific health promotion network.

Contextualizing and assessing the social capital of seniors in congregate housing residences: study design and methods

BackgroundThis article discusses the study design and methods used to contextualize and assess the social capital of seniors living in congregate housing residences in Calgary, Alberta. The project is being funded as a pilot project under the Institute of Aging, Canadian Institutes for Health Research.Design/MethodsWorking with seniors living in 5 congregate housing residencies in Calgary, the project uses a mixed method approach to develop grounded measures of the social capital of seniors. The project integrates both qualitative and quantitative methods in a 3-phase research design: 1) qualitative, 2) quantitative, and 3) qualitative. Phase 1 uses gender-specific focus groups; phase 2 involves the administration of individual surveys that include a social network module; and phase 3 uses anamolous-case interviews. Not only does the study design allow us to develop grounded measures of social capital but it also permits us to test how well the three methods work separately, and how well they fit together to achieve project goals.This article describes the selection of the study population, the multiple methods used in the research and a brief discussion of our conceptualization and measurement of social capital.