Cognitive validation of the measurement of social capital in Bangladesh: An urban-rural comparison

Social capital has the potential to impact health and development in resource-poor countries as a substitute for other kinds of resources that are lacking. Given that the same question about social capital may be interpreted differently in different cultural settings, there is a need to validate social capital survey instruments in each new cultural setting. This qualitative study uses focus group discussions and cognitive interviews to examine the content validity of a social capital survey instrument and compare the operationalization of social capital in an urban and rural setting in Bangladesh. The study took place in one rural sub-district (Durgapur) and one urban slum (Mirpur) of Bangladesh. Two focus group discussions were conducted in each field site in order to better understand the language used to discuss social capital items, such as group membership, social support, community participation, and social cohesion. Following the focus groups, sixteen respondents were purposefully selected from each field site and independently asked nine structured survey questions from a shortened and adapted version of the Social Capital Assessment Tool originally developed by the World Bank. Following each question, cognitive interviewing techniques were used in order better understand the thought processes behind their responses to each question. All interviews and focus group discussions were coded and analyzed using NVivo 10.0. We will present a detailed comparison of the measurement issues encountered in rural and urban areas of Bangladesh and a newly adapted social capital survey instrument that can be used by future health and development organizations.