An evaluation of the social capital of students of the University of the West of Santa Catarina (UNOESC)

Authors

  • Alyne Sehnem Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Campus de São Miguel do Oeste, Pinhalzinho e Maravilha, Unidade de Mondaí.
  • Janaina Macke Universidade de Caxias do Sul
  • Adriana Locatelli Bertolini Universidade de Caxias do Sul

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/csu.2011.47.2.04

Abstract

The concept of social capital related to the economic development of regions and countries began to achieve significance in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the measurement of social capital still faces some difficulties, because it requires a combination of statistical measures to find results that are reliable for the reality of the given community. The present study aims to measure the social capital level of undergraduate students in three cities of the Far West of Santa Catarina (south of Brazil), viz. Maravilha, São José do Cedro e São Miguel do Oeste. The survey relies on previous works by Macke (2006), Macke et al. (2010) and the evaluation model proposed by Onyx and Bullen (2000). Descriptive statistics, factorial analysis, linear regression and analysis of variance have been used, trough the software SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science). The results point out the variables related to “Participation in the community” as having the lowest levels of social capital, whereas the variables related to “Feelings of safety” and “Work connections” reach the best performance. The analysis of the results considers the sociocultural aspects of the region and aims to find elements related to the characteristics and the endogenous forces of the community.

Key words: social capital, community, survey, local development.

Author Biographies

Alyne Sehnem, Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Campus de São Miguel do Oeste, Pinhalzinho e Maravilha, Unidade de Mondaí.

Mestre em Administração.

Coordenadora do Curso de Administração na Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Campus de Maravilha, Pinhalzinho e Unidade de Mondaí.

Janaina Macke, Universidade de Caxias do Sul

Doutora em Administração. Docente do Mestrado em Administração da Universidade de Caxias do Sul.

Adriana Locatelli Bertolini, Universidade de Caxias do Sul

Acadêmica do Mestrado em Administração.

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Published

2011-09-06

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 2 (2011): May/August

Section

Articles

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