Measurement of Social Capital in Water Users Association through Analytical Hierarchy Process
M. Rajeshwaran *
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
K. Mahandrakumar
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
K. Prabakaran
Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study aims to construct by using the social capital index through the identified major components and subcomponents in the watershed context by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). It was introduced by Satty, for decision making by considering the complex elements involved in the process. This was done through pairwise comparison of the judgments of experts. The empirical findings indicate that among the six major components the level of derived benefits was assigned with high weightage as a contributing component in the social capital index followed by the level of involvement, level of collective management, level of trust.
Keywords: Analytic hierarchy process, derived benefits, involvement, social capital.