Social Capital and Community Capacity Building

Abstract

In our paper we will discuss the usefulness of applying qualitative methods in the study of social capital when examining coping with economic transformation at the local level. We will begin with a general discussion of our main concepts and the methodology we find useful in doing locality studies. We will talk about the different aspects of methodology including both how we approach our studies and the methods we apply. These are often not easy to distinguish. The concepts we use, such as social capital, are part the questions we ask and affect what methods we choose how we analyze the data. They are part of our tool kit. The information does not just exist out there waiting to be uncovered — it is the questions we ask that make knowledge.