Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note

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dc.contributor.advisorMattes, Roberten_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMonyake, Moletsaneen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-25T16:55:31Z
dc.date.available2015-10-25T16:55:31Z
dc.date.issued2012en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstract"Generally speaking, would you say most people can be trusted or that one must be careful in dealing with others?" For the past 50 years this question has been used extensively and almost exclusively as a measure of generalised trust in both national and cross-national studies. However, it was not until very recently that scholars focused on the question's validity and reliability as a measure of generalised trust. Besides that these studies' findings are largely contradictory, few of them examine the validity and reliability of the trust data in the African context. This study is motivated by this research gap and the fact that the levels of trust from the Afrobarometer surveys seem to challenge what the literature suggests about the causes and consequences of trust. The study finds that the question is a reliable measure of trust in 'most people' since it obtains largely similar country level estimates when used alone over a period of time. However, African respondents do not consistently interpret 'most people' as 'non-co-ethnics' as previous studies have suggested. In addition, the question does not alternate very well with other measures of bridging trust. This measure is also weakly correlated with measures of civic engagement and associational membership than its alternative, the trust in non-co-ethnics question. However, both measures produce expected linkages with measures of ethnic diversity, economic development and democracy.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMonyake, M. (2012). <i>Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14272en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMonyake, Moletsane. <i>"Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14272en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMonyake, M. 2012. Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Monyake, Moletsane AB - "Generally speaking, would you say most people can be trusted or that one must be careful in dealing with others?" For the past 50 years this question has been used extensively and almost exclusively as a measure of generalised trust in both national and cross-national studies. However, it was not until very recently that scholars focused on the question's validity and reliability as a measure of generalised trust. Besides that these studies' findings are largely contradictory, few of them examine the validity and reliability of the trust data in the African context. This study is motivated by this research gap and the fact that the levels of trust from the Afrobarometer surveys seem to challenge what the literature suggests about the causes and consequences of trust. The study finds that the question is a reliable measure of trust in 'most people' since it obtains largely similar country level estimates when used alone over a period of time. However, African respondents do not consistently interpret 'most people' as 'non-co-ethnics' as previous studies have suggested. In addition, the question does not alternate very well with other measures of bridging trust. This measure is also weakly correlated with measures of civic engagement and associational membership than its alternative, the trust in non-co-ethnics question. However, both measures produce expected linkages with measures of ethnic diversity, economic development and democracy. DA - 2012 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2012 T1 - Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note TI - Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14272 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14272
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMonyake M. Measuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical note. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2012 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14272en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleMeasuring generalised trust in sub-Saharan Africa : a critical noteen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSocScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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