The importance of understanding the diversities of social capital: a case study of female heads of households in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In contemporary development policy and planning social capital is seen as important as economic capital for the advancement of the deprived populations, especially poor women as it is identified as a resource that is available to anyone. However, social capital is not a unitary concept and can manifest itself in diverse qualities and forms. The present paper is based on a study of female-headed households in three districts of Sri Lanka, namely Colombo, Kandy and Matara. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected; quantitative data were obtained through a sample survey of 534 female heads of households and qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews