Overview
- Gives an overview of the literature on social barometers currently in use
- Provides a global overview of the most important social indicators studies
- The case studies cite substantive examples of social trends
Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series (SINS, volume 33)
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About this book
Quality of life (QOL) research has made great strides since the social indicator movement started as a scientific enterprise in the 1960s. Following the lead of pioneers in North America and Europe, social scientists in other regions of the world have adopted and refined social data systems or barometers to monitor progress in enhancing the welfare and well-being of citizens. A distinctive feature of these barometers is that they measure both individual and societal quality of life. While not overlooking the more basic needs and material standards of living, the barometers also inform on issues of individual freedoms and choices and constraints on citizen empowerment that enhance and depress quality of life. Designed to capture nuances in local definitions of the good life, regional barometers are unique expressions of the obstacles facing different societies in their quest to achieve the good life. Scholars of public policy as well as policy makers will find inspiration from reviews of innovative initiatives to monitor contemporary quality of life in six regions of the world spanning South America, the Arctic, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
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Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Reviews
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Valerie Møller is Professor of Quality of Life Studies in the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. She has researched a wide range of quality of life issues in South Africa for public information and policy purposes, including housing, poverty and unemployment, development and service delivery, criminal victimisation and intergenerational relations. Together with colleagues she developed the first survey instruments in the 1980s to measure perceptions of personal well-being among South Africans – the study is regularly updated. More recently she successfully lobbied for the inclusion of a quality of life module in Statistics South Africa’s annual household survey which produces the bulk of national social indicators.
Denis Huschka is Managing Director of the German Council for Social and Economic Data, situated in Berlin/Germany. He also conducts scientific studies as a Research Associate of the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa and he is Permanent Visiting Fellow of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). He has conducted empirical research on regional differences in Quality of Life in Germany and Europe, and on Anomia in post-apartheid South Africa. He was involved in establishing or carrying out several survey initiatives (Wohlfahrtssurvey, Germany; General Household Survey 2002, South Africa; Euromodule, Europe). His most recent research interest focuses on the sociological concept of individualisation as applied to given names as social indicators.
Alex Michalos
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Barometers of Quality of Life Around the Globe
Book Subtitle: How Are We Doing?
Editors: Valerie Møller, Denis Huschka, Alex C. Michalos
Series Title: Social Indicators Research Series
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8686-1
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-8685-4Published: 16 October 2008
Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-7952-7Published: 30 November 2010
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4020-8686-1Published: 16 September 2008
Series ISSN: 1387-6570
Series E-ISSN: 2215-0099
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXII, 238
Topics: Quality of Life Research, Social Policy, Development Economics, History of Science, Social Sciences, general