Measuring the quality of life in rural community development

The authors developed a systemic measure instrument, consiting of 45 tenets of community life, which was tested on rural communities consisting mostly of illiterate farm labourers. The measurement was done by community members them-selves, with very little guidance, but with great success, especially due to the fact that they were involved and could see changes as well as problems that needed further attention.     

Measuring rural development in Nigeria: The place of social indicators

The use of economic growth indicators for the purpose of measuring rural development has for a long time been in practice in Nigeria and in many other developing nations. The inadequacy of this measure in depicting development in the area of societal well-being has suggested that social indicators could be a more meaningful tool to monitor and evaluate the level and conditions of rural development. This paper highlights the information needs for, and problems of incorporating social indicators in the measurement of rural development in Nigeria. It is recognized that for social indicators to be a useful tool in a place such as rural Nigeria, they must reflect the sociocultural peculiarities and the life style of the country's rural population. The paper finally suggests an improvement of the quality of social statistics in rural Nigeria to enhance their functional values to planners and policy makers.     

Basic needs in rural Nigeria

Rural poverty which persists in Nigeria despite the prosperity created by the country's oil wealth is evident in the difficulty experienced by many in satisfying their basic needs for food, water and shelter. The lack of these basic needs has held up rural development in Nigeria. This paper highlights the need for adopting a basic needs approach to rural development. It suggests that the basic needs should be identified for each community in recognition of the fact that the priority of needs differs according to the people's socio-cultural conditions. It is observed that if the priority of needs is not sorted out with the people, the government may be involved in spending money on rural development projects that least satisfy the people's needs. The phases of determining the basic needs with the people are examined. The paper concludes that at every stage of development people do know what their needs are and they can be relied upon to determine their own priorities of development and then work for them.     

The quality of urban life and the perception of livability: A case study of neighbourhoods in Benin City,Nigeria

Third World cities face many persistent planning problems. The problems persist partly because planning has not been sufficiently responsive to local peculiarities. This lack of responsiveness is in turn because of the gross scale at which problems are conceived and attacked. One of the persistent problems in all Nigerian cities is their poor environmental quality. This study, therefore, seeks to investigate the environmental problems of Benin City, capital of Bendel State of Nigeria. Six environmental dimensions are measured and analysed. A composite conceptual index of quality of life is derived from the six dimensions, and compared with an index of perceived quality for each area. The study adopts the neighbourhood as the unit in collecting and analysing data, and in proposing solutions. It is recommended that planning administration in Benin City must be decentralized, if it is to be more responsive to intra-city environmental eccentricities, and improve the quality of life.     

Extreme Energy Poverty Incidence and Determinants in Nigeria: A Multidimensional Approach

Social Indicators Research - Energy poverty has emerged in recent times as a crucial aspect of poverty, afflicting the developing world in general and Nigeria in particular. Drawing from some of...     

The quality of life in Australia

This paper outlines a long term project on the quality of life in Australia and presents some initial survey data. The long term project is intended (1) to find which domains of life most affect the perceived well-being of Australians and the values/satisfactions people wish to achieve in these domains (2) to propose policy programs designed to enhance satisfaction with particular domains and (3) to assess the political feasibility of proposed programs. Policy programs intended to enhance satisfaction are termed positive welfare programs to distinguish them from conventional compensatory welfare programs. The survey data analysed here (national sample, N=679) deal with the satisfactions and dissatisfactions of Australians, the correlates of perceived well-being and the links between domains and values. Perceived well-being is measured by Andrews and Withey's Life-as-a-whole index and Bradburn's Affect Balance scale. Satisfactions are measured on a 9 point modified version of Andrews and Withey's delighted-terrible scale. Readers familiar with American, British and Canadian findings will find the results reported here broadly similar. However, the linkage between people's sociological characteristics and their satisfaction levels appears to be exceptionally weak in Australia, which tends to confirm the view that Australia is a comparatively unstratified society.     

Measuring housing and environmental quality as indicator of quality of urban life: A case of traditional city of Benin,Nigeria

Using objectively derived criteria from Nigerian 1959 Town Planning Act, the National Council on Housing definition of standard housing and Oredo Local Authority Building and Adoptive Bye-Laws, this study measured the quality of housing in the three major areas of structural materials, internal unit facilities provided and environmental or neighbourhood amenities/facilities. The computations showed that deficiencies were greatest in the neighbourhood, internal facilities and structural materials in that order. Quality showed a lapse rate from the core to the periphery and from high to low income areas. The QOL measurement showed that to the respondents the quality of the city housing detracts from their quality of living. Policy and planning implications of the findings were discussed.     

Determinants of contraceptive switching behavior in rural Sri Lanka

This study examines the influence of a selected set of determinants of contraceptive method switching in rural Sri Lanka. Of interest is the question of how change in contraceptive practice at the individual level can account for patterns observed at the aggregate level. Based on calendar data on contraceptive use over a 3-year period, collected for more than 3,000 married women in a 1986 survey, the multivariate analysis shows that women who attain all or a significant proportion of their desired fertility tend to switch to more effective methods. Women who experience method failure tend to switch methods, usually to a type that is more effective. The woman's background determinants of age and education have small but significant effects on method switching, whereas the effect of household economic well-being is not significant. There is strong indication that rural couples are practicing contraception in a nonrandom fashion, switching methods in accordance with changes in their fertility motivations and contraceptive experience.     

The quality of life in the Caribbean: A political interpretation

A study of 23 Caribbean polities attempted to relate two types of measures of economic and political development to measures of the quality of life. On the one hand are two closely related concepts, the level of economic development and the political status of the polity (colony, internal self-government, or autonomy). On the other hand are two measures of the type of government and economic structure: plantation agriculture and repressive government. Measures of the quality of life included per capita income, health measures, educational measures, communication and transportation per capita. Plantation structure and political repression were found to be related to most of the measures of the quality of life, but measures of economic development and political status to practically none.     

Determinants of out-migration in rural China: effects of payments for ecosystem services

Rural-to-urban migration has been a hallmark of economic development in China and other developing countries and can have profound socio-economic and ecological implications. This study seeks to understand the impacts on this migration of two large payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs implemented by the Chinese Government: the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP). The primary goal of these PES programs is environmental conservation with poverty alleviation as the secondary goal. We use a full model of the factors affecting rural out-migration at the individual, household, and community levels to investigate how these PES programs have influenced out-migration in a mountainous rural area of Anhui, China. Results show that the CCFP facilitates out-migration, while the EWFP overall discourages it, thereby somewhat offsetting the effects of the CCFP. Out-migration is also shown to be affected by a number of other individual, household, and community characteristics. The results are useful for designing concurrent PES programs in the future aiming at both environmental conservation and livelihood improvement in not only China but also other developing countries.     

The quality of student life: Toward a coherent conceptualization

Under various guises, the concept of the quality of student life (QSL) has received much attention in the higher education literature. Unfortunately, its various uses have in common that they all lack conceptual coherence. In an effort to remedy this situation, and render QSL useful for researchers, administrators and student services personnel, this paper does three things. First, a conceptual framework is used as a means of organizing a wide-ranging review of relevant literatures across several disciplines. Integration of the inferences derived yields a new formal definition of QSL. Next, building on a critique of four theoretical models of QSL, a new ecological formulation is advanced which stresses the need to consider various on- and off-campus contexts if efforts to assess student satisfaction and happiness are to be meaningful. Third, a number of salient methodological issues are examined in light of this formulation. To the extent that these approaches collectively yield a more coherent conceptualization of QSL, it is concluded that the idea of QSL deserves much greater prominence than it now enjoys.     

The quality of life in historical perspective France: 1695–1990

Attempts to evalute the quality of life in historical perspective have been hindered by the absence of data on the perceptions that people held about their well-being as well as by the absence of a broad base of social indicators concerning their physical environment. Given these constraints, in this paper we develop a framework for discussing the well-being of the inhabitants of Aix-en-Provence during the past three centuries. We discuss the quality of life implications of the historical changes in life styles as expressed in the socio-economic structure and in family and work arrangements as well as those based on a limited knowledge of their physical environment as measured by the Physical Quality of Life Index.We presented an earlier version of this paper in Bielefeld, Germany at the XIII World Congress of Sociology, July, 1994. Grand Valley State University provided financial support for research and travel. We thank the staffs of the various French archives who helped us locate historical documents. Bernard Bernos of the University of Provence suggested several historical works that provided us with useful insights about the evolution of human well-being in France. Our longtime colleague and mentor, Doh Shin, located references for us when we were far from an American library and contributed extensive intellectual counsel from which we benefitted enormously.     

Perceptions of aging among rural, midwestern senior citizens: signs of women's resiliency

This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine perceptions of aging among rural-dwelling senior citizens (203 women and 112 men), ages 65 and older. Quantitative results revealed that, despite no significant gender differences in the total number of medical conditions reported, women were less likely than men to report that health problems interfered with their daily functioning. Qualitative analyses revealed that women were particularly like to identify relationships, frame of mind, participating in activities, and religion/spirituality as important contributors to successful aging.     

Quality of life in Kwara State,Nigeria: An exploratory geographical study

An attempt is made to describe territorial social indicators for Kwara State, Nigeria, and to suggest how they might be used to map inequalities.     

The wealth of nations revisited: Income and quality of life

Does economic prosperity enhance the quality of human life? Across 101 nations, 32 indices were analyzed that reflect a representative sample of universal human values (e.g., happiness, social order, and social justice). Wealth correlated significantly with 26 of the 32 indices, indicating a higher QOL in wealthier nations. Only suicide and CO₂ emissions were worse in wealthier societies. Basic physical needs were met early in economic development, whereas advanced scientific work occurred only when basic physical needs were fulfilled for almost all people in the society. Limitations of the conclusions are discussed.     

Quality of life and city size: An exploratory study of Nigeria

This paper examines the variations in the quality of life at the relatively neglected inter-urban scale in a developing nation. Based on a sample survey of 3800 heads of households in Nigerian cities ranked into three categories: large, medium and small, the study found that level-of-living is related to city size, with the residents of large cities having a higher quality of life than those in the medium and small cities.     

The perceived quality of life in Norway: Regional variations and contextual effects

This article deals with perceived quality of life and its relationship to sociodemographic background variables in Norway. We try to answer two questions, viz (1) to what extent does the absolute level of quality of life as well as the relationships between quality of life and individual-level sociodemographic variables vary between Norwegian counties? and (2) are such variations related to specific characteristics of the various counties? Some between-county variation is found, but in most cases the pattern of variation is not replicated across surveys. For variation in the absolute level of QOL as well as in the relationship between an individual's education and QOL, however, there is a moderate degree of stability. Contextual analyses show that the relationship between education and QOL is positive and moderately strong in affluent counties, near zero or negative in economically more backward areas. The results are interpreted within the framework of a person-environment fit model.     

Safe drinking water and satisfaction with environmental quality of life in some oil and gas industry impacted cities of Nigeria

The availability and safety of drinking water and the environmental quality of life was investigated in five cities located in an oil-producing area of Nigeria using questionnaire-based scales, discussion and laboratory tests. Polythene-packaged sachet water and commercial and non-commercial private boreholes largely met the drinking water requirement of the cities. Consumption of sachet water was high (14.0–20.0 points vs. 25.0 points) but regression analysis indicated strong negative relationships with income group (β = −0.75, P < 0.005) and educational level (β = −0.77, P < 0.005) of respondents (658). Private borehole water was prevalent (18.7–19.9 vs. 20.0) while public water supplies were almost non-existent (4.8–5.6 vs. 20.0) in the cities. Vulnerability to contamination in all water sources was indicated following unacceptable counts of total and faecal coliform bacteria in 10–62.5 and 3–25% of samples, respectfully. Respondents were not satisfied with environmental quality of life indicated by the quality of housing, school, health services, refuse disposal, recreation, streetlight, transport and police (3.43–4.01 vs. 10). It is concluded that modernization and industrialization due to the oil and gas industries, tended to increase individualization to the negligence of common services as evidenced by the preponderance of private boreholes and sachet water.