Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research

Despite its growing currency in academic and policy circles, social cohesion is a term in need of a clearer and more rigorous definition. This article provides a critical review of the ways social cohesion has been conceptualized in the literature: in many cases, definitions are too loosely made, wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social indicators research 2006-01, Vol.75 (2), p.273-302
Main Authors: Chan, Joseph, To, Ho-Pong, Chan, Elaine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Language
Civil society
Cohesion
Cooperation
Definitions
Empirical research
International organizations
Measurement
Measurement Techniques
Methodology
Opportunity equality
Policy
Policy Research
Poverty
Research methods
Research papers
Resistance (Psychology)
Respect
Social Capital
Social Cohesion
Social exclusion
Social Indicators
Social integration
Social integration. Social relations. Social participation
Social interaction
Social Isolation
Social organization. Social system. Social structure
Social psychology
Social research
Social science research
Social structure
Society
Sociology
Solidarity
Studies
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Summary:Despite its growing currency in academic and policy circles, social cohesion is a term in need of a clearer and more rigorous definition. This article provides a critical review of the ways social cohesion has been conceptualized in the literature: in many cases, definitions are too loosely made, with a common confusion between the content and the causes or effects of social cohesion. This motivates us to propose a refined definition that we hope is clearer and more rigorous. We will show how our definition could be operationalized into a measurement scheme that facilitates empirical work on social cohesion.
ISSN:0303-8300
1573-0921
DOI:10.1007/s11205-005-2118-1