Barometers of Quality of Life Around the Globe

Barometers of Quality of Life Around the Globe PDF Author: Valerie Møller
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402086865
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
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.

Barometers of Quality of Life Around the Globe

Barometers of Quality of Life Around the Globe PDF Author: Valerie Møller
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402086865
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research

Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research PDF Author: Kenneth C. Land
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400724217
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Book Description
The aim of the Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research is to create an overview of the field of Quality of Life (QOL) studies in the early years of the 21st century that can be updated and improved upon as the field evolves and the century unfolds. Social indicators are statistical time series “...used to monitor the social system, helping to identify changes and to guide intervention to alter the course of social change”. Examples include unemployment rates, crime rates, estimates of life expectancy, health status indices, school enrollment rates, average achievement scores, election voting rates, and measures of subjective well-being such as satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and with specific domains or aspects of life. This book provides a review of the historical development of the field including the history of QOL in medicine and mental health as well as the research related to quality-of-work-life (QWL) programs. It discusses several of QOL main concepts: happiness, positive psychology, and subjective wellbeing. Relations between spirituality and religiousness and QOL are examined as are the effects of educational attainment on QOL and marketing, and the associations with economic growth. The book goes on to investigate methodological approaches and issues that should be considered in measuring and analysing quality of life from a quantitative perspective. The final chapters are dedicated to research on elements of QOL in a broad range of countries and populations.

Development of Quality of Life Theory and Its Instruments

Development of Quality of Life Theory and Its Instruments PDF Author: Alex C. Michalos
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319511491
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
The focus of this volume is on the further development of the Quality of Life Theory and the means to measure the concept. The volume summarizes Michalos’ fundamental assumptions about the nature of quality of life or human well-being and explains in detail the two variable theory of the quality of life. It gives an update of the journal Social Indicators Research after forty years, an explanation of the role of community indicators in connecting communities, and a critical review of the much publicized Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi report. It deals with the multiple discrepancies theory (MDT), the empirical theory designed to provide the foundation of the pragmatic theory of value. Other concepts discussed in this volume are the stability, sensitivity, and other different features of measures of domain and life satisfaction and happiness, measures of arts-related activities and beliefs, measures of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour concerning sustainable development, and the role of quality of life in sustainable development research. The volume concludes with discussions on connections between social indicators and communities, aspects of community quality of life in Prince George, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta, and British Columbians’ expectations and attitudes going into the third millennium.

Arctic Social Indicators

Arctic Social Indicators PDF Author: Joan Nymand Larsen
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9289338881
Category : Arctic peoples
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Arctic Social Indicators II (ASI-II) is a follow-up activity to ASI-I (2010) and the first Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR, 2004). The objective of ASI (2010) was to develop a small set of Arctic specific social indicators that as a collective would help facilitate the tracking and monitoring of change in human development in the Arctic. ASI indicators were developed for six domains that are considered prominent aspects of human development in the Arctic by residents in the Arctic: Health and Population; Material Wellbeing; Education; Cultural Wellbeing; Contact with Nature; and Fate Control. The objective of the present volume of ASI is to present and discuss the findings of the work on measuring the set of recommended ASI indicators; to conduct a series of regional case studies to illustrate and test the strength and applicability of these indicators; to identify and describe data challenges for the Arctic region specifically in relation to these Arctic specific indicators and to draw conclusions about the ability of ASI to track changes in human development; and to formulate policy relevant conclusions for the long-term monitoring of Arctic human development. The core content of ASI-II is a set of five carefully selected case studies, which form the basis for drawing conclusions about the applicability of the ASI indicators and for formulating policy relevant conclusions. Case studies are performed for Sakha Republic (Yakutia); the West-Nordic Region; Northwest Territories; Inuit Regions of Alaska; and the Inuit World, with the Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) used to augment ASI. Findings on the state and changes in Arctic human development and wellbeing are presented. Based on our analysis and conclusions from the five case studies the framework for an ASI monitoring system is introduced. We argue that the long-term monitoring of human development in the Arctic would be greatly facilitated by the regular and frequent collection and reporting of relevant data, including those required for the proposed small set of ASI indicators.

The New Arctic

The New Arctic PDF Author: Birgitta Evengård
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319176021
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
In the late 18th century explorers and scientists started venturing into the Arctic in a heroic and sometimes deadly effort to understand and unveil the secrets of the unforgiving and mysterious polar region of the high north. Despite that the Arctic was already populated mattered less for the first wave of polar researchers and explorations who nevertheless, brought back valuable knowledge. Today the focus in Arctic science and discourse has changed to one which includes the peoples and societies, and their interaction with the world beyond. The image of a static Arctic - heralded first by explorers - prevailed for a long time, but today the eyes of the World see the Arctic very differently. Few, if any, other places on Earth are currently experiencing the kind of dramatic change witnessed in the Arctic. According to model forecasts, these changes are likely to have profound implications on biophysical and human systems, and will accelerate in the decades to come. “The New Arctic” highlights how, and in what parts, the natural and political system is being transformed. We’re talking about a region where demography, culture, and political and economic systems are increasingly diverse, although many common interests and aspects remain; and with the new Arctic now firmly placed in a global context. Settlements range from small, predominantly indigenous communities, to large industrial cities, and all have a link to the surrounding environment, be it glaciers or vegetation or the ocean itself. “The New Arctic” contributes to our further understanding of the changing Arctic. It offers a range of perspectives, which reflect the deep insight of a variety of scientific scholars across many disciplines bringing a wide range of expertise. The book speaks to a broad audience, including policy-makers, students and scientific colleagues.

Global Handbook of Quality of Life

Global Handbook of Quality of Life PDF Author: Wolfgang Glatzer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401791783
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 878

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Book Description
This handbook provides a comprehensive historical account of the field of Quality of Life. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical findings and presents the main items of global quality of life and wellbeing research. Worldwide in its scope of topics, the handbook examines discussions of demographic and health development, the spread of democracy, global economic accounting, multi-item measurement of perceived satisfaction and expert-assessed quality of life and the well-being of children, women and poor people. It looks at well-being in specific regions, including North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to contributions by leading and younger authors, the handbook includes contributions from International Organizations about their own work with respect to social reporting.

The Pursuit of Human Well-Being

The Pursuit of Human Well-Being PDF Author: Richard J. Estes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319391011
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 829

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Book Description
This handbook informs the reader about how much progress we, the human race, have made in enhancing the quality of life on this planet. Many skeptics focus on how the quality of life has deteriorated over the course of human history, particularly given World War II and its aftermath. This handbook provides a positive perspective on the history of well-being. Quality of life, as documented by scientists worldwide, has significantly improved. Nevertheless, one sees more improvements in well-being in some regions of the world than in others. Why? This handbook documents the progress of well-being in the various world regions as well as the differences in those regions. The broad questions that the handbook addresses include: What does well-being mean? How do different philosophical and religious traditions interpret the concept of well-being within their own context? Has well-being remained the same over different historical epochs and for different regions and subregions of the world? In which areas of human development have we been most successful in advancing individual and collective well-being? In which sectors has the attainment of well-being proven most difficult? How does well-being differ within and between different populations groups that, for a variety of socially created reasons, have been the most disadvantaged (e.g., children, the aged, women, the poor, racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities)?

Trust with Asian Characteristics

Trust with Asian Characteristics PDF Author: Takashi Inoguchi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811023050
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This volume, edited by a political scientist and a practicing medical doctor, is organized into two parts: interpersonal and institutional trust. To gauge trust both interpersonal and institutional in 29 Asian societies, the AsiaBarometer survey, the best—and only—available such data source in the world was used. The survey, focusing on the quality of life in Asia, was carried out in the 2000s in 29 Asian societies (in East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia), and in the United States, Australia, and Russia for comparative analysis. Trust is a key intermediate variable linking an individual and a broader society. Yet systematically and scientifically assembled data have tended to be narrowly focused on Western societies. In the 2000s non-Western data on the quality of life have steadily increased. The AsiaBarometer survey, however, is the instrument that best examines the quality of life in a large number of Asian societies with nationwide random sampling and face-to-face interviewing, with the number of samples ranging from 1,000 to 3,000. In gauging interpersonal trust, the question, "Generally, do you think people can be trusted, or do you think that you can't be too careful in dealing with people (i.e., that it pays to be wary of people)?" is asked along with additional questions. In measuring institutional trust, the question is asked: "How much confidence do you place in the following institutions?" (Listed are the central government, the courts, the military, the police, political parties, the parliament, mass media, business companies, medical hospitals, and other institutions.) In examining interpersonal and institutional trust Asia-wide, special attention is paid to historical and geo-cultural backgrounds of the societies being surveyed. Examination of the link between trust of mass media and individual health and between trust in medical care and individual health focuses on Japan.Among the 12 chapters, 9 are reprints of journal articles published in the 2000s, and the introduction and 2 other chapters were written especially for this book to reflect the latest progress in the field. This work provides a rich source to be consulted by a wide range of readers interested in comparative politics, quality of life, and Asia in general.

Handbook of Quality of Life and Social Change

Handbook of Quality of Life and Social Change PDF Author: Cornelia C. Walther
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031395077
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description


The Routledge Handbook of the Polar Regions

The Routledge Handbook of the Polar Regions PDF Author: Mark Nuttall
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317549570
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 557

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Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of the Polar Regions is an authoritative guide to the Arctic and the Antarctic through an exploration of key areas of research in the physical and natural sciences and the social sciences and humanities. It presents 38 new and original contributions from leading figures and voices in polar research, policy and practice, as well as work from emerging scholars. This handbook aims to approach and understand the Polar Regions as places that are at the forefront of global conversations about some of the most pressing contemporary issues and research questions of our age. The volume provides a discussion of the similarities and differences between the two regions to help deepen understanding and knowledge. Major themes and issues are integrated in the comprehensive introduction chapter by the editors, who are top researchers in their respective fields. The contributions show how polar researchers engage with contemporary debates and use interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to address new developments as well as map out exciting trajectories for future work in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The handbook provides an easy access to key items of scholarly literature and material otherwise inaccessible or scattered throughout a variety of specialist journals and books. A unique one-stop research resource for researchers and policymakers with an interest in the Arctic and Antarctic, it is also a comprehensive reference work for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.