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Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research

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Abstract

Despite its growing currency in academic and policy circles, social cohesion is a term in need of a clearer and more rigorous definition. This article provides a critical review of the ways social cohesion has been conceptualized in the literature in many cases, definitions are too loosely made, with a common confusion between the content and the causes or effects of social cohesion. This motivates us to propose a refined definition that we hope is clearer and more rigorous. We will show how our definition could be operationalized into a measurement scheme that facilitates empirical work on social cohesion.

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Correspondence to Joseph Chan.

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Chan, J., To, HP. & Chan, E. Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research. Soc Indic Res 75, 273–302 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-2118-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-2118-1

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