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Insights for Measuring Social Value: Classification of Measures Related to the Capabilities Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Shoko Kato Open the ORCID record for Shoko Kato [Opens in a new window] ,
Shena R. Ashley  and
Rasheda L. Weaver
Shoko Kato*
Affiliation:
Rutgers School of Business-Camden, 227 Penn Street, Camden, NJ 08102-1656, USA
Shena R. Ashley*
Affiliation:
The Urban Institute, 2100 M St., NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA
Rasheda L. Weaver*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Morrill Hall, 146 University Place, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
*
shoko.kato@camden.rutgers.edu
sashley@urban.org
Rasheda.weaver@uvm.edu
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Abstract

The measurement of performance and the evaluation of social change efforts are vital yet challenging issues for practitioners and researchers in the social sector. Although tools exist to measure social value, they tend to focus on converting non-monetary costs and benefits into monetary terms to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of operations. The capabilities approach provides a value-based alternative that could potentially enable a broader assessment of a project’s impact; this approach encapsulates societal-level factors, beneficiary perspectives, and a more holistic view of a beneficiary’s life. Ultimately, our goal is to raise the following question in the social sector field: what might a capabilities approach to social value measurement that is suitable for practical application by social sector organizations look like? The purpose of this article is to introduce the theoretical framework and to present what some of the measures and instruments might look like, at least in part, based on applications in other contexts.

Résumé

Résumé

La mesure du rendement des initiatives de changement social et leur évaluation sont des enjeux essentiels, quoique complexes pour les praticiens et chercheurs du secteur social. Même si des outils existent pour mesurer la valeur sociale, ils se concentrent surtout sur la conversion de coûts et bénéfices non monétaires en modalités financières pour démontrer la rentabilité d’activités données. L’approche axée sur les capacités procure une option basée sur la valeur qui pourrait donner lieu à une évaluation élargie de l’impact d’un projet. Cette approche intègre des facteurs de niveau sociétal, les points de vue des bénéficiaires et un aperçu plus global de leur existence. Notre objectif ultime est de soulever la question suivante dans le secteur social: à quoi pourrait ressembler une approche de mesure de la valeur sociétale axée sur les capacités, que les organismes du secteur social pourraient utiliser sur le terrain? Le présent article a pour but d’introduire un cadre théorique et quelques mesures et instruments potentiels, au moins en partie, en fonction de leur application dans d’autres contextes.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Die Leistungsmessung und die Bewertung der Bemühungen zum sozialen Wandel sind äußerst wichtige und zugleich schwierige Themen für Praktiker und Forscher im Sozialsektor. Zwar gibt es Instrumente zur Messung des Sozialwertes; doch konzentrieren sich diese in der Regel auf die Umrechnung nicht monetärer Kosten und Nutzen in monetäre Werte, um die Kosteneffizienz der Tätigkeiten zu demonstrieren. Der Befähigungsansatz (Capabilities Approach) bietet eine wertorientierte Alternative, die unter Umständen eine umfassendere Bewertung von Projektauswirkungen ermöglicht. Dieser Ansatz umfasst Faktoren auf der gesellschaftlichen Ebene, Perspektiven der Leistungsempfänger und eine ganzheitlichere Betrachtung des Lebens eines Leistungsempfängers. Letztendlich wird auf die folgende Frage im Sozialsektor abgezielt: Wie könnte ein für die praktische Anwendung seitens der Organisationen im Sozialsektor geeigneter Befähigungsansatz zur Messung des Sozialwertes aussehen? Zweck dieses Beitrags ist es, das theoretische Rahmenwerk vorzustellen und darzulegen, wie sich einige der Bewertungen und Instrumente gestalten könnten, die zumindest teilweise auf Anwendungen in anderen Kontexten beruhen.

Resumen

Resumen

La medición del rendimiento y la evaluación de los esfuerzos por el cambio social son temas vitales, pero exigentes para los profesionales e investigadores en el sector social. Aunque existen herramientas para medir el valor social, tienden a centrarse en convertir los costes y ventajas no monetarios en términos monetarios para demostrar la rentabilidad de las operaciones. El enfoque de las capacidades proporciona una alternativa basada en el valor que podría permitir potencialmente una evaluación más amplia del impacto de un proyecto; este enfoque sintetiza los factores a nivel societal, las perspectivas del beneficiario y una visión más holística de la vida de un beneficiario. Finalmente, nuestra meta es plantear la siguiente pregunta en el campo del sector social: ¿a qué podría parecerse un enfoque de las capacidades con respecto a la medición del valor social que sea apropiado para la aplicación práctica por parte de las organizaciones del sector social? El propósito del presente artículo es introducir el marco teórico y presentar a qué podrían parecerse algunas de las mediciones e instrumentos, por lo menos en parte, basándose en aplicaciones en otros contextos.

Chinese

Chinese

对于社会领域的从业人员和研究人员来说,测量绩效和评估社会变革努力非常重要,但也是一个充满挑战的问题。尽管有各种测量社会价值的工具,但他们通常会专注于将非货币成本和好处转换为货币,从而展示运营的成本效率。能力方法提供基于价值的替代方法,潜在允许范围更广的项目影响评估;这种方法涵盖社会层面的因素,受益人观点和受益人生活的更加全面的观点。最终,我们的目标是,提出社会领域的以下问题:适合社会领域组织实际应用到社会价值测量的能力方法看起来像什么?本文的目的是,推出理论框架并展示一些措施和手段的可能样子,至少部分基于在其他背景中的应用。.

Japanese

Japanese

いまだに社会セクターにおける研究者や専門家にとっては、実践における測定と社会的変化の努力に対する評価は、困難な課題には必要不可欠である。社会的価値を測定するツールは存在するが、実践における費用対効果を提示するために、金銭を基準にして非金銭的コストと利益に変えることに焦点を当てる。可能性のあるアプローチでは、プロジェクトの影響への広範な評価を潜在的に可能にする価値重視の代替手段を提供する。このアプローチは社会的レベルの要因、受益者の観点、受益者の人生における相対的な観点を包含する。最終的に、本研究の目的は、社会セクター分野における以下の疑問点をあげることである。社会セクター組織による実践的な適用における社会的価値の測定では、何が可能なアプローチとなるか。本論文の目的は、理論的な枠組みを示して、少なくとも他の状況下において適用のベースとなる測定と手段がどのようなものであるかを提示することである。.

Arabic

Arabic

يمثل قياس الأداء وتقييم جهود التغيير الإجتماعي مشاكل حيوية ومعقدة بالنسبة للممارسين والباحثين في القطاع الإجتماعي. على الرغم من وجود أدوات لقياس القيمة الإجتماعية، فإنها تميل إلى التركيز على تحويل التكاليف والفوائد الغير نقدية إلى شروط نقدية لإثبات فعالية تكاليف العمليات. يقدم قدرات النهج بديل قائم على القيمة التي من المحتمل تمكن من إجراء تقييم أوسع لتأثير المشروع؛ يغطي هذا النهج العوامل على مستوى المجتمع المحلي، وجهات نظر المستفيدين، ونظرة أكثر شمولية لحياة المستفيد. في نهاية المطاف، هدفنا هو طرح السؤال التالي في مجال القطاع الإجتماعي: ما الذي ما الذي يمكن أن تعتمده القدرات على قياس القيمة الإجتماعية المناسبة للتطبيق العملي من قبل منظمات القطاع الاجتماعي؟ الغرض من هذه المقالة هو تقديم الإطار النظري وعرض ما قد تبدو عليه بعض التدابير والصكوك، على الأقل جزئيا”، على أساس التطبيقات في سياقات أخرى.

Keywords

Social impactCapabilitiesSocial valuePerformance measurement

Information

Type
Original Paper
Information
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , June 2018 , pp. 558 - 573
Copyright
Copyright © International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2018

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Footnotes

Update 2 July 2018 The PDF version of this article was reformatted to a larger trim size.

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