Environmentally Responsible Happy Nation Index: Refinements and 2015 Rankings

Fifty years have elapsed since Cantril (1965) published his work on The Pattern of Human Concerns. His line of inquiry has stood the test of time. In late 2012, the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey replicated Cantril’s 1960s questions and methodology to elicit South Africans’ hopes and aspirations and worries and fears for self and country and their ratings of where self and country stood—past, present and will stand in future. Although Cantril’s ‘ladder-of life’ scale is still regularly used as a measure of subjective well-being, to our knowledge his full line of preliminary questioning has not been fielded again to date. Our study found that South African aspirations for self were mainly material ones for a decent standard of living and the means to achieve this goal. Hopes for the nation concentrated on economic and political progress to consolidate South Africa’s democracy. A large number of personal and national hopes were mirrored in fears that these aspirations might not be met. Cantril’s method also allowed us to review the main concerns and ratings across the diverse groups of citizens that make up the ‘rainbow nation’. There was a substantial degree of consensus on top hopes and fears but levels of standing on the Cantril ladder of life were still graded according to apartheidera inequalities with black South Africans scoring lower than other race groups. Nonetheless, the majority of South Africans rated their present life better than 5 years ago and projected life to get better in future. Such optimism may place considerable pressure on the state to deliver on personal and societal hopes as the country enters its third decade of democracy.     

On the Crafting of Population Knowledge

Focusing on the craft aspect of population research—the generally unremarked fact that behind our well‐turned‐out publications lie particular, historically situated humans using craft‐type techniques—this essay traces the history of the making of population knowledge about China by the author over some twenty‐five years. At least in this case, population research has taken the form not of a stable subdiscipline, but of a loose, flexible, opportunistic assemblage—of concerns, logics, techniques, methods, and ethics—that has been guided by some of the big questions posed by China's post‐Mao global rise. It suggests that, unlike disciplines and inter‐disciplines, population studies is a post‐disciplinary assemblage whose contents and boundaries are flexible, varying with the practitioner and the research question being explored. Recounting more individual histories of population knowledge‐making would help us see the strong shaping role of historical contexts and personal values in the crafting of population thought. Such insights would help us recognize the diverse pathways by which population knowledge is formed and the different purposes for which it is pursued.     

Resources for families with a gay/lesbian member

An exploratory mail survey was conducted with families having a gay/lesbian member, inquiring as to where they had received information about gays and lesbians and their lifestyles, and where they found support since their family member came out. The sample population was a 90-member support group, "Families and Friends of Gays and Lesbians." Responses to open-ended questions gave a personal account of these families' concerns, needs, and wants, which suggested answers as to how those in counseling professions might better prepare themselves to provide services to these families by making themselves more available and accessible to families.     

Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?

Despite the rapid rise in mothers' labor force participation, mothers' time with children has tended to be quite stable over time. In the past, nonemployed mothers' time with children was reduced by the demands of unpaid family work and domestic chores and by the use of mother substitutes for childcare, especially in large families. Today employed mothers seek ways to maximize time with children: They remain quite likely to work part-time or to exit from the labor force for some years when their children are young; they also differ from nonemployed mothers in other uses of time (housework, volunteer work, leisure). In addition, changes in children's lives (e.g., smaller families, the increase in preschool enrollment, the extended years of financial dependence on parents as more attend college) are altering the time and money investments that children require from parents. Within marriage, fathers are spending more time with their children than in the past, perhaps increasing the total time children spend with parents even as mothers work more hours away from home.     

Settler Welfare on Tropical Forest Frontiers in Latin America

Because of urgent concerns to protect tropical forests in Latin America, social science research on them has been generally ‘forest-centred.’ This forest-centred approach considers the people who inhabit the frontier as agents of land use change and forest conversion focusing on how their actions affect forest cover. Welfare indicators for forest frontier populations (income, education, health, access to basic services) are addressed only incidentally in terms of how they influence land use. ‘People’ centred research, which asks questions from the perspective of human welfare such as, ‘Are frontier settlers better off than they were before?’ or ‘What kind of socio-economic impacts does frontier life have on the people who live there?” and “How can their lives be improved?,” has been less common. As a result, we know much about the impacts, especially adverse impacts, which settler activity on the frontier has on forest cover but little about the impacts settlement has on settlers, themselves. This paper attempts to shift discussion towards these kinds of questions and a more people centred approach by reviewing existing research that directly addresses the welfare of settlers in tropical forest frontiers in Latin America. We also review research that touches on settler welfare by considering the concept of ‘sustainability’ on the forest frontier and stakes out a comprise position between ‘forest’ and ‘people’ centred questions or concerns. Settler welfare is defined primarily in economic terms. Household income, wealth, and agricultural productivity are interpreted a proxies for welfare in most cases. We also consider welfare in terms of access to basic services (health and education) and living conditions. We particularly consider how settler welfare indicators may change over time on the frontier. Tropical forests, defined as tropical, moist, broadleaf forests, are the main ecological setting of interest. These forests are generally the largest unoccupied areas in many Latin American countries and are thus, also the main ‘agricultural frontier’ or areas of new settlement by small farmers.     

A developing countries' perspective on population,environment, and development

The subject of this paper is the political behavior of developing states (the South) on issues of population, environment and development. It attempts to understand why the South is so weary of international population policy in the name of the environment. It argues that the South's response is shaped by five inter-related concerns about responsibility, efficiency, efficacy, additionality, and sovereignty. That is, the developing countries, (a) do not want their population growth to be held responsible for global environmental degradation, (b) argue that a more efficient solution to the environmental crisis is consumption control in the North, (c) believe that development remains a necessary condition for efficacious population control, (d) are weary of the population priorities of the North distracting international funds from other developmental goals of the South, and (e) are unprepared to accept any global population norms which challenge their fundamental political, cultural or religious sovereignty. It is maintained that these concerns have historically guided the positions of the South and remain valid and relevant today. Although, over the last two decades of North-South debate on the subject the nuances within these concerns have evolved, the concerns themselves remain valid and were apparent again at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Finally, it is proposed that although a grand North-South bargain around population-environment-development issues remains unlikely, both sides can gain much from trying to understand - even where they do not agree with - the other's concerns. The purpose of this study is not as much to defend the South's position, as to present it and the rationale behind it.     

"Safety" in gay men's personal ads, 1985-1996

A content analysis was conducted of a sample of gay men's personal ads over the period 1985-1996. Ads (591) were analysed, comparing those which contained references to "safety" and those which did not. Approximately 10% of ads included such a reference and this proportion did not change over time. "Safety" was not associated with the personal characteristics of advertisers or their desired partners but was more commonly mentioned by older men. There were strong associations between oral sex, anal sex and mentioning safety. However, the differential risks of HIV transmission associated with oral sex and anal sex were not reflected in the extent of reference to safety, suggesting uncertainty about the risks of HIV transmission associated with oral sex.     

Demographic comparison between self-response and personal visit interview in Census 2000

During Census 2000, over 95 percent of the housing units were in mailback areas. In these areas either the United States Postal Service or Census Bureau staff delivered the census questionnaire. In urban and suburban areas of the country, the United States Postal Service delivered the census questionnaires between March 13 and 15 of 2000. The addresses in these areas are predominately city style; house number and street name. In more rural areas of the country with predominately non-city style addresses, Census Bureau staff delivered the questionnaire during March of 2000. Respondents completed their census questionnaires and returned them through the mail. Returns from these housing units are classified as self-response. Respondents which did not complete and return their census questionnaire by April 18, 2000 were interviewed during the nonresponse followup operation (personal visit interview). This paper will examine the demographic characteristics of persons enumerated on the mail return questionnaire (self-response) and the persons enumerated during the nonresponse followup operation (personal visit interview).     

A human ecological approach to quality of life: Conceptual framework and results of a preliminary study

A human ecological framework for study of quality of life is proposed and used in the study of the QOL of a rural sample in northern Michigan. The framework is based on an ecosystem, i.e., the interaction of humans, the environed units, with their interrelated environments. These are conceptualized as: natural, human constructed and human behavioral. Quality of life indicators can measure aspects of the environed units, environments, and their interaction. Scales to measure perceived overall quality of life (POQL), community satisfaction (COMSAT), and the importance of and satisfaction with selected life concerns (SALI and SALS) were used. The life concerns represented human needs, attributes of the self, conditions and resources of the three environments, or implied interaction with or action upon the environment. Objectives were to study how these life concerns contributed to POQL; the relationship between SALI and SALS ratings and how this influenced POQL; the relationship between COMSAT and POQL; and whether or not satisfaction with these two variables varied by demographic characteristics. A relatively high POQL was found; those with higher incomes and children living at home had higher scores. COMSAT was also generally high, but did not vary by demographic characteristics. POQL and COMSAT were significantly related. Family life, health, safety, house, and financial security ranked highest in importance; clothing, spare time activities, and fun ranked lowest. Family life, religious faith, food work, and safety ranked highest in satisfaction; national government, financial security, developing oneself, health, and an interesting life ranked the lowest. The various life concerns appear) to behave differently in regard to how the discrepancy between importance of a concern and satisfaction with it influences overall quality of life. Satisfaction with accomplishments, family life, work and financial security accounted for over half the variance in POQL. These represent essential human needs which are satisfied with resources of the near environment, suggesting the salience of one's most proximate environment to evaluation of quality of life. Findings, while preliminary, illustrate the viability of a human ecological model as a unifying framework for conceptualization and measurement of quality of life. Further specification and elaboration of the model are indicated.     

An Integrational Model of Quality of Life in Older Age. Results from the ESRC/MRC HSRC Quality of Life Survey in Britain

This paper is based on the results of anational survey of the quality of life of 999randomly sampled people aged 65 and over,living at home in Britain. The survey wassemi-structured, and a sample of surveyrespondents was followed up and interviewedin-depth in order to explore their perceptionsof quality of life in full. Comparisons aremade here between the results of (i) ahierarchical multiple regression model basedon theoretically derived indicators of survey respondents' ratings of their overall quality of life, with (ii) the samerespondents' own definitions of quality oflife, categorised from their responses toopen ended survey questions, and (iii) theviews of a sub-sample of these survey respondents who were subsequently interviewed in greater depth. Respondents were asked theopen ended questions on quality of life at theoutset of the survey interview in order toprevent any respondent bias from thestructured measures used.The core components, and the central planks,of quality of life, which were consistentlyemphasised by the three approaches, were psychological characteristics and outlook,health and functional status, personal andneighbourhood social capital. The lay modelsalso emphasised the importance of financialcircumstances and independence, which need tobe incorporated into a definition of broader quality of life.     

Quality of life for students with disabilities in transition from school to adulthood

This paper examines quality-of-life concerns that pertain to secondary level students with disabilities who participate in high school programs in the United States. More specifically, we examine issues and programs that pertain to the “transition period” during which students leave school and begin to assume adult roles in their communities. The paper begins with an overview of major programs that have addressed this area over the past 25 years. We then present some contrasting definitions of quality of life, in order to provide a theoretical context for examining issues and concerns, ending with our recommendations for a taxonomy that can be used for operationally defining quality of life. Research findings from this perspective are presented next, followed by a discussion of ways in which quality-of-life information can beused to influence program and policy and policy decisions at both personal and institutional levels of discourse. We cite and describe several examples of such usage from our own experiences. The paper closes with some recommendations concerning what we must do in the future to improve quality of life for this population.     

Have family income mobility patterns changed?

We examine the mobility of individuals in the United States based on equivalent family income-that is, total income of all family members adjusted for family size according to the equivalence scale implicit in the U.S. poverty line. Our analysis, which tracks movements across quintiles, centers on four questions: How much movement is there across the family income distribution? How has this mobility changed over time? To what extent are the movements attributable to factors related to changes in family composition versus events in the labor markets? In light of major socioeconomic changes occurring in the quarter-century under study, have the determinants of mobility changed over time? Our findings indicate that mobility rates in the 1980s differed little from those in the 1970s. However, individuals in families headed by a young person or a person without a college education were less likely to experience upward mobility in the 1980s than in the 1970s.     

If GDP is Not the Answer,What is the Question? The Juncture of Capabilities,Institutions and Measurement in the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report

This review essay offers an institutional critique of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report. The notion of human capabilities and functionings advocated by the Report demonstrates an inspirational perspective to monitor human progress in quality of life (QoL). Several measurements the Report suggested remain inadequate. The personal diary techniques have some potential as it possesses strength in recording hedonic activities, but it is relatively weak in revealing eudaimonic experiences. The Report unfortunately mixes up outcome indicators of QoL at individual level and the higher-ordered, social institutions in mapping out causal processes of human wellbeing. Future researchers can contribute by concentrating on clarifying the plausible linkage between institutions and individual wellbeing in broad sense. There is much knowledge to be gained by researchers who ask questions of “how we can change” rather than answer to “what we can measure”     

Alfred Marshall on the Growth of Population

Classical views of population, as expounded in the works of Smith, Malthus, and Mill, retained their influence through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth—until sidelined, many would argue, by the marginalist revolution in economics. Oddly, Alfred Marshall (1842–1924), the major figure in that revolution, was, when it came to population, himself firmly in the classical tradition. He diverged from it in two main respects. Writing in the late nineteenth century he had of course to take account of Darwinian theory, with the potential implications it suggested for differential fertility. And, deriving from his interests in industrial organization and efficiency and in biological analogies in economics, he gave greater attention than his forebears to the possibility that returns to labor could routinely be increasing as well as diminishing. Marshall, the preeminent economist of his time, was for most of his career professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge. His major work, Principles of Economics, was first published in 1890, and then in a series of revised editions over the rest of his life. The final—8th—edition appeared in 1920. (A “ninth” variorum edition was issued in 1961.) The Principles has been described, by G. J. Stigler, as the second greatest work in the history of economics. The contributions to theory and method warranting such praise, however, are chiefly in the later parts of the volume. Up to and including Book IV (The Agents of Production: Land, Labour, Capital and Organization), the reader is given the impression, according to Keynes, of “perusing a clear, apt and humane exposition of fairly obvious matters.” Certainly in comparison to the rest, these early sections were left fairly intact in their 1890 form over subsequent editions. But Keynes also remarks, in his lengthy obituary of Marshall, how deceptive that surface smoothness could be—and notes that Marshall “had a characteristic habit in all his writings of reserving for footnotes what was most novel or important in what he had to say.” The excerpts below are taken from Book IV, Chapters IV (§§1–2, 4–5) and XIII (§3), of the 1890 edition of the Principles. In the first, Marshall presents a brief, selective history of population doctrines up to Malthus, and then the doctrine “in its modern form”; in the second, from the concluding chapter of Book IV, he explores the applicability of the law of increasing returns—stated, earlier in the chapter, as: “An increase of labour and capital leads generally to improved organization, which increases the efficiency of the work of labour and capital.”     

The San Francisco bathhouse battles of 1984: civil liberties,AIDS risk,and shifts in health policy

In the mid-1980s, controversy emerged in a number of American cities over the roles gay bathhouses and sex clubs might play in the spread of AIDS, and in raising safe-sex awareness. In 1984, San Francisco became the first city where political debates broke out over AIDS-related policies for bathhouses and sex clubs. These debates were dominated by questions of public health and gay civil liberties. A variety of proposals were put forward during 1984 to try to reconcile these two concerns, or to give one a higher priority than the other. Certain officials in San Francisco's government, and members of its gay/lesbian/bisexual community, strongly disagreed over whether the businesses should be closed, should make their own AIDS-prevention efforts, or should continue operating under new regulations. Policies implemented for the city's baths were disconnected from the known AIDS risk of different sexual behaviors, and from research findings on AIDS and the local baths. Political and judicial decisions concerning San Francisco's bathhouses and sex clubs that were made in 1984 had continuing influences on these businesses through the later 1980s and the 1990s.     

Measuring social indicators in opinion surveys: A method to improve accuracy on sensitive questions

Asking sensitive questions, without risking a terminated interview or response bias, is a major problem in deriving accurate social indicators based on public opinion surveys. This problem has become particularly acute as the topics that interest researchers have become more personal in nature. Mail and telephone surveys, and methods such as the randomized response technique, have all been used to try and overcome this problem, with varying degrees of success. In this paper, we describe an alternative approach using a sealed booklet. We report results from a question-format experiment that asked respondents the same sensitive questions in a sealed booklet, completed in the presence of the interviewer, and in a standard face-to-face interview. The survey used for the experiment was a personal interview survey of drug use based on a national population sample. The sealed booklet format was found to produce more accurate estimates of drug use compared to direct questions. In addition to assuring the respondent greater anonymity, the sealed booklet permits a wide range of questions to be asked and does not limit the analyses that can be conducted on the data.     

Developing Survey Measures of Inequality of Autonomy in the UK

This paper explores the development of survey questions to measure autonomy, interpreted as the degree of choice and control a person has in key areas of his or her life. A review of the theoretical literature leads to a conceptualisation of autonomy as consisting of three components: (1) self-reflection, (2) active or delegated decision-making, and (3) a wide variety of high-quality options. Three major barriers to autonomy are identified: (1) conditioned expectations, (2) coercion, and (3) structural constraints, including lack of advice and support. A suite of questions designed to assess these components and barriers was devised and subjected to cognitive testing with a purposive sample of 34 individuals with diverse characteristics. The tests resulted in refinements to the language, response categories and phrasing of questions. Analysis of responses indicated that issues of decision-making and range and quality of options were easier for respondents to grasp than questions about self-reflection, and conditioned expectations could be detected only indirectly. Nevertheless the components of, and barriers to, autonomy could be separately identified. The article concludes that despite limitations, survey measurement of the complex concept of autonomy is possible and revealing.     

Worry and Bother: Factors in Rural Women’s Health Decision Making

This exploratory study examined older rural women’s health decision making. Thirty-three rural women were recruited to participate in semistructured qualitative interviews. Major themes emerged that focused on rural women’s comments regarding their concerns about not worrying or bothering their children with personal health matters. Themes were discussed in the context of an ethic of care. Results suggest that it is important for mental health professionals, family physicians, social workers, and other practitioners to be aware of the sense of worry and concern for others that older rural women bring to bear in decision making about personal health issues.     

Anticipation of retirement among baby boomers

A total of 32 interviews were conducted with women in academia who were born between 1946 and 1964. Twenty-one of these interviews were completed with academic women in the United States. and eleven with academic women in New Zealand. The data were analyzed to determine what these "baby boomers" anticipate for their retirement as well as their concerns about facing retirement. Cohort and cross-cultural comparisons were made. The authors identified common themes in the interviews. These included rejection of the traditional definition of retirement, anticipated age at retirement determined by personal needs rather than age-graded societal norms, retirement projected to be an active period involving a mix of work and leisure activities, and major concerns, about health and health care, the availability of entitlements and finances. The findings from this study indicate baby boomers are forging a new path for retirement. Further research investigating the transition for women of the baby boom generation from worker to retiree may open windows into the future of retirement for women.     

Anticipation of Retirement Among Baby Boomers

ABSTRACT

A total of 32 interviews were conducted with women in academia who were born between 1946 and 1964. Twenty-one of these interviews were completed with academic women in the United States. and eleven with academic women in New Zealand. The data were analyzed to determine what these “baby boomers” anticipate for their retirement as well as their concerns about facing retirement. Cohort and cross-cultural comparisons were made. The authors identified common themes in the interviews. These included rejection of the traditional definition of retirement, anticipated age at retirement determined by personal needs rather than age-graded societal norms, retirement projected to be an active period involving a mix of work and leisure activities, and major concerns, about health and health care, the availability of entitlements and finances. The findings from this study indicate baby boomers are forging a new path for retirement. Further research investigating the transition for women of the baby boom generation from worker to retiree may open windows into the future of retirement for women.