Journal on Policy and Complex Systems
chitecture by the concept of an armature ( Hu , 2014 ; Kojima , 2014 ). An armature is a structure that acts as a point of focus for something to develop rather than acting as an external constraint fencing something in . Armatures are commonly used in sculpture , in model building in stop motion film , and in architectural design processes . A lattice or framework that vines can grow on , sometimes referred to as a thyrsus , is another example of an armature ( Baudelaire , 1981 , pp . 72-73 ). From an urban vantage point , a road can act like an armature along which vendors , gas stations , parks , and other structures develop over time . By contrast , a formal suburban master plan develops out of a fully proscribed set of pre-formed terms where dynamics about the future are assumed ( Allmendinger , 2009 ; Fainstein & Campbell , 2011 ; Fischler , 2000 ). The nature of social capital lends itself to a directed , but open , approach where new insight is gained from new data sets designed to explore the complex phenomena involved . I employ a carefully structured research strategy with sufficient flexibility to allow for novelty and discovery on the way ( Alexander , 2003a ; Westley , Zimmerman , & Patton , 2006 ; Wheatley , 2006 ).
2.1 . A Strategy for Extending Social Capital Research
The armature approach is reflected in the structure of this paper . Movement from left to right ( Figure 1 ) reflects a framework that scales from meta-philosophical considerations to particular phenomena that can be investigated empirically . This simplified logic supports an approach to social capital research methods and strategies that advance explanation without succumbing to either totalizing claims or reductive traps ( Abbott , 2009 ; Kuhn , 1970 ).
Figure 1 : Conceptual armature from broad to specific .
Within this analytic structure , critical realism forms a meta-theoretical framework within which complex systems and behaviors are both expected and partially understood . Network analysis provides a formalized means of understanding those complex systems which are driven by both the structure ( topology ) and process ( dynamics ) of various elements and components ( including nested systems of systems ) ( Albert & Barabási , 2001 ; Cohen & Havlin , 2010 ): in this case , social interactions in space and time comprise the social infrastructure of cities ( Friesen , 2013b ). Following this logic , each of the elements of the proposed armature is examined more closely below .
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