Comparative Analysis of the Approaches and Indicators that are Used in the Assessment of Social Capital (in Persian)

Although the approach that has been aimed at social capital has led to achievements in the Social Sciences domain, but again, it has also brought about cases of confusions. Some of these confusions are related to the comparison of the social capital extent at an international level. Most of the researchers believe that there are differences in the social capital indicators of the different societies, where this has made the comparison of social capital among societies difficult. On the other hand, obvious differences are observed in the definitions that have been presented by the theoreticians on the concept of social capital. Therefore, there is a necessity for the scanning of these views and indicators. Researchers believe that two general viewpoints could be presented in this regard: 1. social capital as a social connection instrument, 2. social capital as a social discernment instrument. Most of the definitions and indicators that have been presented on the concept of social capital could be related to one of these two viewpoints. Nowadays, the focus is mostly on the first one, where two types of social capital have been defined in this viewpoint: confining and connecting. The use of appropriate indicators in these theoretical classifications is of utmost importance. That is why, some of the most distinguished definitions and indicators that have been presented for the assessment of social capital have been critically analyzed and examined in this article.