Methodology aspects of social capital studies: analysis of main international journals

Abstract

According to the social capital theory, the extent to which individuals interact among each other, social capital tends to increase. In this sense, social capital can be seen as a stimulator/driver of outcomes. Those outcomes are both in the field of administration, and in the field of sociology or third sector. In this sense, this study aims to investigate methodological aspects of the articles published in leading international journals, which address social capital, covering areas of administration, sociology and third sector. Thus, this study presents a literature review on the subject of social capital, reviewing 20 theoretical and empirical studies published in leading international journals between the years of 2000 to 2009. In order to carry out this research, we followed the following methodological steps: (i) consulting  four experts on the subject, identifying the main international journals on the topic, at this stage were identified 09 journals, (ii) classification of articles identified in the period of 2000 to 2009, using as selection criteria of the search term "Social Capital" in the title and abstract of the journals analyzed, (iii) selection of articles considering the criteria of accessibility, as well as, the criteria of theoretical and empirical study. Subsequently, we got a sample of 20 articles, which were from 07 journals. The main results are presented: the dominance of the quantitative approach and alignment between the methodological papers published in each journal individually. At the end, we presented some suggestions for further studies.