Social Capital, Participation and the Causal Role of Socialisation, 2000-2001

UKDA study number:4982

Principal Investigators

Halpern, D.
Morris, Z.
University of Cambridge. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences
John, P.
University of London. Birkbeck College. Department of Politics and Sociology

Sponsor

Economic and Social Research Council

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

July 2004

Bibliographic Citation

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Halpern, D., John, P. and Morris, Z., Social Capital, Participation and the Causal Role of Socialisation, 2000-2001 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], July 2004. SN: 4982.

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4982 . Social Capital, Participation and the Causal Role of Socialisation, 2000-2001

Depositor:

Halpern, D. , University of Cambridge. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

Principal Investigators:

Halpern, D. , University of Cambridge. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

John, P. , University of London. Birkbeck College. Department of Politics and Sociology

Morris, Z. , University of Cambridge. Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

Sponsor:

Economic and Social Research Council
Grant Number: L215252009

Abstract:

The project aimed to explore the social and political attitudes of 15-17 year olds through sample surveys of a selection of schools in Hertfordshire in 2000 and 2001. In particular, the aim was to understand the origins of social capital, and what factors affect young people’s political/civic knowledge, engagement and social trust. In addition, the project examined the impact of formal citizenship education, whether exposure to citizenship education was associated with higher civic knowledge, engagement and trust among young people. Finally, the relationship between social capital and other important outcomes in young people, notably educational attainment was also explored, in order to assess to what extent social capital variables, in the home or school, have an impact on exam performance at 16 and the key decision of whether to stay in school post-16. The project had policy aims of feeding the results of the research to policy-makers in central and local government.

The level of civic education in each school was ascertained by a prior practice survey to heads (questionnaire is part of the submission to the archive). The researchers surveyed 1250 year eleven students in their classes by means of a written questionnaire.

Main Topics:

The datasets are the coded responses to the two sample surveys, which covered topics such as social attitudes, psychological well being, attitudes to school and teachers, political knowledge, activities and attitudes as well as collecting information about the respondent’s characteristics and behaviour (e.g. television watching, school grades). The Wave 1 dataset contains the responses to these questions (see codebook) as well as responses to the practice survey and a number of school-level variables (e.g. whether the school is public or private). A year later the same students (including those who had left education) and asked many of the same questions as well as some new ones (e.g. GCSE results, intentions about voting, hours spent watching television news). For Wave 2, 702 students replied, a 60 per cent response rate from the Wave 1 survey. The Wave 2 data file contains responses to both first and second wave questions for those 702 cases.

The data is a complete representation of the questionnaires bar the answers to one qualitative question: "In your opinion what are the most serious problems or opportunities facing you and your generation? Use as much of the space as you need." The project researchers coded some of this information and used the rest of it in non-quantitative form for the study reports.

Standard Measures
Some repeats of standard questions were adopted, such as the social trust question "Generally speaking do you think that most people can be trusted, or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?", which appears in the World Values Survey (held at UKDA under GN: 33239). Some political knowledge questions on the EU and numbers of Members of Parliament were taken from Stradling, R. (1977), The Political Awareness of the School Leaver, London: Hansard Society.
The well-being question was taken from the British Social Attitudes survey (see under GN: 33168).
Other sources used included:

Mischel, W. (1961) 'Preference for delayed reinforcement and social responsibility' Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62(1), pp.1-7 for the discount rate question.

Flanagan, C.A et al (1998) 'Ties that bind: correlates of adolescents' civic commitments in seven countries' Journal of Social Issues, 54(3), pp.457-475, for the social responsibility question.

Coverage:

Dates of Fieldwork: Wave 1: autumn 2000. Wave 2: autumn 2001
Country: England
Geography: Hertfordshire
Spatial Units: No spatial units
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: Subnational
Population: Wave 1: Year 11 school students in Hertfordshire in 2000-2001. Wave 2: the same respondents one year on, whether in education or not.

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Cross-sectional (one-time) study
contains a longitudinal element, in that the Wave 1 respondents were re-surveyed for Wave 2
Sampling Procedures: Multi-stage stratified random sample
the 27 schools (24 state and three private) were selected by stratifying the sample of schools in Hertfordshire according to wealth (number of children in receipt of free school meal, or fees for independent schools), examination results and civic education.
Number of Units: Target: Wave 1 - 1250, Wave 2 - 1250. Obtained: Wave 1 - 1250, Wave 2 - 702.
Method of Data Collection: Postal survey; Self-completion
Data Sources: Some of the school level data was provided by the local education authority:

percentage of school pupils in receipt of free school meals ranked by the local education authority (variable fsmprop),

percentage in year 11 with 5 GCSE A-C passes (gcse2001), and

percentage in year 11 with no GCSE A-C passes (nogscs01).

Weighting: No weighting used

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required. Available to all registered users. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Availability: ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk

Date of First Release:

16 July 2004

File last updated:

25 August 2006