Planning for Social Environments : Social Capital in the Context of Critical Realism and the Dynamics of Complex Systems
viduals or immediate networks of individuals ) ( Franke , 2005 ). Findings reveal that more time and effort have been invested in designing and carrying out either macro level international and national research programs ( Chung , Choi , & Lee , 2014 ; Garcia , Martinez , & Radoselovics , 2008 ; Gesthuizen , van der Meer , & Scheepers , 2009 ; van Oorschot & Arts , 2005 ) or highly contextual micro level ethnographic or site-specific research projects , where behavior of a specific group , type of individual , or social unit is examined ( Boneham & Sixsmith , 2006 ; McPherson , Smith-Lovin , & Brashears , 2006 ). The meso scale , which is particularly relevant to planners , represents an important research and policy opportunity . The meso level of social structure is strategic for improving research and policy tools that planners can use in developing strategies for city building that more fully integrate social implications in decision-making and resource allocation processes , including a much better understanding of the social impact of decisions .
1.4 . Social Capital and other Social Phenomena
Complex phenomena with unclear or highly diverse causal mechanisms may feature significant clusters of interacting systems and causal dynamics that cannot be understood in isolation from each other ( Alexander , 2001 ; Gunderson & Holling , 2002 ). Where this is the case ( e . g ., human health and environmental conditions ) scientists can often gain insight into the higher order phenomenon by understanding the dynamics of subsystems of phenomena ( Stanley , 2007 ). Early social capital research and theory explored key causal factors , such as trust and cultural norms ( Bourdieu , 2008 ; Coleman , 1988 ; Paldam , 2000 ). Untangling the complex nature of these causal factors in neighborhood social phenomena is ongoing ( Chung et al ., 2014 ) and reflects long traditions of deliberations that concern planning theory and complex phenomena ( Jacobs , 1959 ; Lindblom , 1959 ; Simon , 1962 ; Weaver , 1948 ). Research progress will be difficult given these realities .
Progress in social capital research may , as a result of these challenges , require significant timeframes ( Ostrom & Ahn , 2003 ) and a fuller consideration of the nature of the problems encountered . The proposed approach to a research framework has been designed with an awareness of these dynamics , including the ways in which they involve the contested relationship between natural and social sciences ( Gadamer , 1960 ; H . Putnam , 1988 ; Rorty , 1998 ), challenges regarding the efficacy of theory in guiding research ( Kuhn , 1970 ; G . Thomas , 1997 ), and the degree of confidence we can have in research results , particularly social science results , as true ( or complete ) representations of reality ( Derman , 2011 ; Rorty , 1979 ).
2 . Structuring Social Capital Research
The idea of an open and exploratory approach to research is complimented in the field of ar-
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