The name is absent

acquire as a consequence of organised learning. These are the most obvious outcomes
of learning - even though the measurement of skills and knowledge is not
straightforward (see for example Eraut, 2000, on tacit knowledge). Human capital
theory was developed mainly in an economic context, to explain why individuals or
groups of individuals (up to the level of nation) vary in income, productivity or career
chances. But it has also been used to include characteristics such as health - both, it is
worth noting, as a component of human capital and as an outcome. We are interested
in how far the acquisition of knowledge, skills and qualifications leads to other
outcomes, but also whether it leads to further learning.

Social capital is a relative newcomer to social sciences, but has developed real
impetus in recent months as a concept of major potential policy significance (e.g. see
ONS, 2001). It refers to the norms and networks that bring people together to mutual
advantage (Putnam, 2000; Baron et al., 2000). Unlike human capital it is not, or not
only, a personal attribute or asset, but refers to the relationships that exist between
individuals or groups of individuals. It is most commonly operationalised by reference
to attitudinal measures, e.g. of expressed trust, or, more substantively, to behavioural
ones such as levels of participation in civic activities. It is the latter set that is more
central to our use of the concept, so we are exploring what the mechanisms are that
underpin the association between levels of education and participation in most forms
of civic activity; but we are also interested in the way learning affects the extent to
which people show tolerance and other characteristics that bind social units together.

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