Social participation and social capital in South Yorkshire Coalfield Communities

This article draws on responses from a 2004 survey of 3771 residents in nine South Yorkshire coalfield communities to explore levels of social participation and the relationship between social participation and social capital. The survey provides a relatively unusual data source as, in addition to collecting information about levels of participation, it elicits the type(s) of groups residents are involved with. The article provides two key messages for policy-makers and practitioners. The first relates to the findings and indicates that particular components of social capital are associated with particular types of social participation. The second relates to the survey methodology and demonstrates the importance of establishing the type(s) of groups that residents are involved with when examining levels of social participation.</p

Interrelation of sport participation, physical activity, social capital and mental health in disadvantaged communities : a sem-analysis

Background : The Health through Sport conceptual model links sport participation with physical, social and psychological outcomes and stresses the need for more understanding between these outcomes. The present study aims to uncover how sport participation, physical activity, social capital and mental health are interrelated by examining these outcomes in one model. Methods : A cross-sectional survey was conducted in nine disadvantaged communities in Antwerp (Belgium). Two hundred adults (aged 18-56) per community were randomly selected and visited at home to fill out a questionnaire on socio-demographics, sport participation, physical activity, social capital and mental health. A sample of 414 adults participated in the study. Results : Structural Equation Modeling analysis showed that sport participation (beta = .095) and not total physical activity (beta = .027) was associated with better mental health. No association was found between sport participation and community social capital (beta = .009) or individual social capital (beta = .045). Furthermore, only community social capital was linked with physical activity (beta = .114), individual social capital was not (beta = -.013). In contrast, only individual social capital was directly associated with mental health (beta = .152), community social capital was not (beta = .070). Conclusion : This study emphasizes the importance of sport participation and individual social capital to improve mental health in disadvantaged communities. It further gives a unique insight into the functionalities of how sport participation, physical activity, social capital and mental health are interrelated. Implications for policy are that cross-sector initiatives between the sport, social and health sector need to be supported as their outcomes are directly linked to one another

Volunteering and Social Activism: Pathways for Participation in Human Development

This discussion paper explores the following questions, drawing on the above-mentioned background study: How is volunteering an d social activism understood?; How do volunteering and social activism foster people's participation?; What is the relationship between participation and development?; What is required to widen and sustain participation

User Participation in Social Media: Digg Study

The social news aggregator Digg allows users to submit and moderate stories by voting on (digging) them. As is true of most social sites, user participation on Digg is non-uniformly distributed, with few users contributing a disproportionate fraction of content. We studied user participation on Digg, to see whether it is motivated by competition, fueled by user ranking, or social factors, such as community acceptance. For our study we collected activity data of the top users weekly over the course of a year. We computed the number of stories users submitted, dugg or commented on weekly. We report a spike in user activity in September 2006, followed by a gradual decline, which seems unaffected by the elimination of user ranking. The spike can be explained by a controversy that broke out at the beginning of September 2006. We believe that the lasting acrimony that this incident has created led to a decline of top user participation on Digg.Comment: Workshops of 2007 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT 07

The Role of Families in Shaping Youth Social Participation: Evidence from Singapore

Youth participation in social groups is important in developing skills and experience for successful transition to adulthood. What kinds of families do youth who are active in social groups and who take on leadership positions come from? Using data from the National Youth Survey 2005, this research studies the social participation of Singaporean youth aged 15 -18. Through probit regression analysis, it examines how youth participation in Singapore is associated with two types of family characteristics. First, it examines the role of maternal education. As a proxy for social class, maternal education represents the roles of cultural capital formation and concerted involvement by middle class parents. Second, it studies the role of family challenge and support. Maternal education is found to predict both high participation and leadership. While additional family challenge induces greater participation, family support increases participation only when the level of support is high.youth participation; family challenge; family support; social class

Compulsory social security participation revealed preferences

The study starts with a classification of the enterprises depending on their participation to the Vietnam social security. Among the enterprises that contribute, one striking feature is that on average the share in the wage bill of the contributions paid to the Vietnam social security is much lower than the contribution rate established in the law. Even if the enterprises that do not register their employees are excluded from the calculation, the average ratio is of 7.6 percent while the legal rate was in 2006 equal to 23 percent. The study, consequently, examine this issue before investigating the characteristics of the enterprises that do not register their employees. The paper shows that this low ratio is due to a wide practice by enterprises of paying contributions on lower wages than current wages. The paper investigates, furthermore, who benefit from the practice of avoiding registration and from the practice of under-reporting wages to social security. The results indicate strong evidence that employees in enterprises that are not registered to social security and in enterprises that under report wage receive higher net wages.Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Pensions&Retirement Systems,State Owned Enterprise Reform,Income

RUGBY IN IRELAND: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPATION. RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 97 November 2019

This report, commissioned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), provides evidence relating to the level of participation in rugby in Ireland and the factors that underpin it. It exploits five data sources – four from the Republic of Ireland and one from Northern Ireland. The analysis investigates patterns of participation in rugby among adults and children, over time and by social group. It explores people’s motivations for active participation and the extent of physical activity involved. In addition to active participation, i.e. physically playing rugby, patterns of social participation in the form of volunteering, club membership and attendance at events are analysed