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Community Capacity

The Community Capacity measure includes 26-items on social support and community connectedness. Items are organized into six sub-scales: participation (i.e., attending local events), leadership (i.e., responsiveness of local leaders), connections (i.e., inclusivity of neighborhood), sense of place (i.e., aware of economic changes in community), community attitudes (i.e., future of the community), and problem assessment (i.e., ability for community to come together to solve an issue).

Categories

Geographies Tested: New Zealand

Populations Included: Female, Male

Age Range: Adolescents, Adults

Items:

Participation
1. I support the local school whenever I can
2. I attend local events whenever I can
3. I rarely give my money or time to local groups*
4. Participating in local clubs and events is good for community

Leadership
5. The most important issues affecting [place name] are being addressed
6. If I share my ideas and opinions with local leaders they will listen
7. My townneighbourhood has strong leaders who are moving it forward
8. [Place name]'s community leaders don't work together (C11)*

Connections
9. Most people in the community can be trusted
10. I don't feel welcome to join local groups and activities*
11. Residents are friendly and inclusive of newcomers
12. [Place name] is a close-knit community
13. I have little in common with most people who live here*

Sense of Place
14. I have a good understanding of [place name]'s history
15. I see how economic changes have affected [place name]
16. I am proud to be a resident of [place name]

Community Attitudes
17. [Place name] has a positive future
18. What is good for the neighbourhood is good for me
19. [Place name] residents have many skills and talents
20. [Place name]'s youth often go on to achieve great things

Problem Assessment
21. I frequently discuss community issues with my friends and neighbours
22. I have a good understanding of the strengths and needs of [place name]
23. I am quick to work with others when I see a need within the community
24. [Place name] has had more success than failure in resolving local issues
25. [Place name]'s residents bounce back in hard times
26. If there was a serious problem in this community the people here could get together and solve it

Note. Items with asterisk are reverse-coded

Response Options:
Seven-point Likert-type items for respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement.

Scoring Procedures

Not Available

Original Citation

Lovell, S. A., Gray, A. R., & Boucher, S. E. (2015). Developing and validating a measure of community capacity: Why volunteers make the best neighbours. Social Science & Medicine, 133, 261-268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.049


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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