Available online
Description
Measuring social relationships : Imagine a fantastically important characteristic of society that you are not sure how to measure, not even certain exactly what it is, but you are worried that ther...e might be less of it. Welcome to the problem of social capital. It sounds like other kinds of capital, with the sort of cash valuation you might place on factories, offices or equipment, or, as in the case of human capital, the value we might place on human skill and education. But social capital is unique. It seems to increase when you use it and decline when you leave it alone. It seems to exist not in places or people, but between people, as one contributor this week describes it. What it tries to encapsulate is the importance of connections and contacts between people, their range and frequency of social interactions. Governments are taking an increasing interest in it. Economies are said to grow faster because of it and in More or Less this week we looked at the fundamental problem of measuring it. Counting animals : Also this week, the difficulty of counting animals that are not exactly census friendly. And a little statistical challenge about hedgehogs.
Measuring social relationships : Imagine a fantastically important characteristic of society that you are not sure how to measure, not even certain exactly what it is, but you are worried that ther...e might be less of it. Welcome to the problem of social capital. It sounds like other kinds of capital, with the sort of cash valuation you might place on factories, offices or equipment, or, as in the case of human capital, the value we might place on human skill and education. But social capital is unique. It seems to increase when you use it and decline when you leave it alone. It seems to exist not in places or people, but between people, as one contributor this week describes it. What it tries to encapsulate is the importance of connections and contacts between people, their range and frequency of social interactions. Governments are taking an increasing interest in it. Economies are said to grow faster because of it and in More or Less this week we looked at the fundamental problem of measuring it. Counting animals : Also this week, the difficulty of counting animals that are not exactly census friendly. And a little statistical challenge about hedgehogs.
| Series: | More or less |
|---|---|
| Episode | 6 |
| First transmission date: | 2006-01-26 |
| Published: | 2006 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:24:12 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Michael Blastland |
| Contributor: | A. W Dilnot |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Subject terms: | Mathematical statistics; Social sciences--Statistical methods |
| Production number: | AUDA056B |
| Available to public: | no |
