Unpacking social capital the big bang theory way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlhHTdDqoBc

1. Networks as Social Capital (Kadushin Chapter 10) Unpacking social capital the big bang theory wayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlhHTdDqoBc

2. What is social capital?

3. Theorists… • Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) (French sociologist, anthropologist, philosopher) – structural definition of social capital: the sum of the actual or potential resources linked to a strong network of institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance or recognition. The conversion of social obligations to economic capital or status positions • Penny’s napkin gift, turned into increased status in Sheldon’s eyes and economic value in the form of gift baskets.

4. Theorists… • James Coleman (1926-1995) (American Sociologist) – functional definition of social capital: a variety of different entities that have two characteristics in common – all have social structure and all facilitate certain actions of individuals within the structure. Social structure becomes social capital when it is cashed in to further one’s goals. The three benefits/outcomes of this theory: information, influence and control. • Penny’s gift becomes social capital and the gift resulted in Penny gaining information (learning the extent of Sheldon’s love of Leonard Nimoy), influence (having met Leonard Nimoy her stock has gone up for Sheldon) and control (by giving the gift she has gained the upper hand in the relationship)

5. Theorists • Robert Putnam (1941- ) (political scientist) theorized that social capital is a social system • Social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups – civic virtue through reciprocity and trust • Participation in groups and informal networks bridge different groups • Penny is the socializer in the group – she participates in many communities and acts as a bridge between them – especially for the nerds

6. Claude Fischer (American Sociologist)stated… • “Social capital is everything psychological and sociological about a person” • We saw the psychological effects on Sheldon and then in the end with his reciprocation, also the sociological effects.

7. Two underlying assumptions • People invest in their social networks in anticipation of future advantage • Penny gained a lot of future advantage by giving Sheldon a gift he highly valued • Social networks containing resources that people can draw upon for their own benefit are rarely directly tested • Sheldon would never have seen the value in Penny as a link to Leonard Nimoy – this would have been an untested resource

8. Defining some terms

9. Glanville and Bienenstock(University of North Carolina) (University of Iowa) • Micro dense networks are associated with individual social support • This is what the Big Bang Theory is really about – a small group of individuals who are very close and are each other’s support system • Macro dense social networks lead to norm enforcement • The academic environment that these geeks live in is their macro environment – it forms their own definition of “norm”

10. Anomie • Anomie is the opposite of positive social capital – eg) the kid who gets picked last for the sports team or the community that lacks moral standards such as gangs • Sheldon or Howard or Raj or Leonard are all at times examples of anomie • Penny is an example of positive social capital

11. Measurement Issues with social capital

12. There is no universalcoin for social capital • It is hard to know what is equitable when there is no standard measurement of value • This is what Sheldon struggles with. To Sheldon a napkin signed and used by Leonard Nimoy was worth more than he was able to reciprocate • To Penny her gift was trivial • Difference in frames of reference/values makes it impossible to assign a value to social capital

13. What might constitutesocial capital value • The potential access to resources is the key to social capital within networks • Penny as a waitress had access to Leonard Nimoy making her a very valuable resource to Sheldon • Investment in network resources builds social capital • Penny gets around – she builds up her resources and takes advantage of them by using them to buy social capital

14. The value ofdiversity and richness • The diversity of organizations a person belongs to increases a person’s social capital • Neither dense nor sparse social networks lead to optimal social capital and developing an optimal level of cohesion appears to be complicated. • Penny works at a restaurant, is a struggling actress, goes to parties and hangs out with a group of nerds – her world is pretty diverse and her social network is less dense and has more structural holes than Sheldon’s – making her a valuable social capital resource.

15. Lin and Dumin’s theory of the position generator • This is an indicator of potential access to networked resources – benchmark to measure social capital • Assumption #1: the most valuable resources are found at the higher levels of occupational structures • Assumption #2: Instrumental action is more likely to happen if higher valued resources are available • Assumption #3: The higher position one is able to reach, the greater likelihood of accessing valuable resources (measures potential access not actual access ) • It’s not what you know, it’s who you know • In this case – Penny’s stock rose and she became a valuable resource by meeting Leonard Nimoy

16. Social support • Structure of the support an individual is embedded in – the quality and size of the network affects the social capital. Weak ties can be important supports in regards to social capital • Penny would have been considered a weak tie for Sheldon as in his opinion she is of lower socio-economic status and intelligence

17. Defining close and weak ties • It is difficult to determine close and weak ties as they change depending on the environment or situation • In the time it took Sheldon to open his gift, Penny moved from being what he would probably consider a weak tie, to his strongest tie.

18. Measuring trust • Generalized trust measurements are problematic due to the assumption that trust is synonymous with access to resources • Sheldon may see Penny as having access to a valuable resource (Leonard Nimoy), however, he may not trust her in other areas in his life

19. Individual and group social capital

20. Individual social capital • Social networks are exclusionary and unfair – they run on the homophily principle – which may infer that people of low socioeconomic status struggle to get out of their group • In the Big Bang Theory, the nerds have a hard time getting out of the nerd herd – Penny is their broker, their link to the “cool” world

21. Group social capital • Tight networks have positive (trust) and negative (loss of privacy) consequences • Leonard and Sheldon (and friends) are a tight network – they trust each other, but in return give up privacy (the roommate agreement) • People who can take advantage of structural holeshave an advantage in a network • Social solidarity is the most general aspect of social capital at the group level – built on mutual trust and commitment over time • This group of friends has built mutual trust by supporting each other over an extended period of time and thus have created social solidarity

22. Community Resources • Community benefits from individual social relations as the reputations, actions and benefits are visible and available to people who have not necessarily invested in social relations • The group of friends benefits from the individual social relations of Penny. Her “street smarts” and mere association with them, increases the group’s social capital within their nerd community.

23. Investmentin networked resources • There may be conscious effort to invest in social relations • Sheldon had pre-purchased various levels of reciprocal gifts – he was making a conscious effort to invest in social relations • Investment may be at an unconscious level based on social norms • Penny was giving a gift as it was customary – not because she was consciously investing in networked resources

24. Summary • Kadushin unpacked social capital by providing some theories and definitions • Highlighted the issues with trying to measure social capital • Reviewed the consequences of social capital at different levels

25. Discussion • Besides status or socioeconomic factors, are there other advantages realized by increased social capital? • Does social media level the social capital playing field or create a bigger diversity in the ability for lower socioeconomic groups to access the resources available to higher socioeconomic groups?