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Background: Early recognition and response to deteriorating patients in general wards are core competencies for nurses. Clinical deterioration is a worsening condition that increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. Although objective measures are commonly used, recent research suggests that subjective data and nurses’ intuitions can serve as valuable indicators for early detection of deterioration in patients. This study aims to comprehensively identify and classify the indicators used to detect clinical deterioration in patients hospitalized in general wards from nurses’ perspectives. Methods: This is a mixed-methods systematic review followed a Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology convergent integrated approach. Four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Scopus) were searched. Studies were screened based on the population of interest (nurses), the phenomenon of interest (patient deterioration), the context (adult care in acute hospital settings), the study type (original studies), and publication in English peer-reviewed journals from January 2014 to December 2023. Two authors independently conducted all screening steps and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Any disagreements were resolved through discussion. This review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Results: Twenty-one studies met the eligibility criteria. Key indicators included vital signs, intake and output, laboratory data, and observational data. Nurses also relied on subjective data from patients’ complaints and their own intuition to predict patient deterioration. The frequency and pattern of specific nursing interventions also play an important role. Conclusions: This review identified vital indicators from nurses’ perspectives, underscoring the value of subjective observations, intuition, and specific nursing interventions in predicting patient deterioration. Integrating subjective factors with objective data can improve early recognition of and response to clinical deterioration, thereby enhancing patient safety and outcomes. This review provides a foundation for future research aimed at quantifying subjective elements, such as patient complaints and nurses’ intuitions, to be included in nursing records as key indicators for predicting patient deterioration. Trials registration: This study was registered with PROSPERO under the registration number CRD42024552344. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Early recognition and response to deteriorating patients in general wards are core competencies for nurses. Clinical deterioration is a worsening condition that increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. Although objective measures are commonly used, recent research suggests that subjective data and nurses’ intuitions can serve as valuable indicators for early detection of deterioration in patients. This study aims to comprehensively identify and classify the indicators used to detect clinical deterioration in patients hospitalized in general wards from nurses’ perspectives. Methods This is a mixed-methods systematic review followed a Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology convergent integrated approach. Four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Scopus) were searched. Studies were screened based on the population of interest (nurses), the phenomenon of interest (patient deterioration), the context (adult care in acute hospital settings), the study type (original studies), and publication in English peer-reviewed journals from January 2014 to December 2023. Two authors independently conducted all screening steps and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Any disagreements were resolved through discussion. This review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Results Twenty-one studies met the eligibility criteria. Key indicators included vital signs, intake and output, laboratory data, and observational data. Nurses also relied on subjective data from patients’ complaints and their own intuition to predict patient deterioration. The frequency and pattern of specific nursing interventions also play an important role. Conclusions This review identified vital indicators from nurses’ perspectives, underscoring the value of subjective observations, intuition, and specific nursing interventions in predicting patient deterioration. Integrating subjective factors with objective data can improve early recognition of and response to clinical deterioration, thereby enhancing patient safety and outcomes. This review provides a foundation for future research aimed at quantifying subjective elements, such as patient complaints and nurses’ intuitions, to be included in nursing records as key indicators for predicting patient deterioration. Trials registration This study was registered with PROSPERO under the registration number CRD42024552344.

Fuel poverty is a pressing global issue for households, particularly low-income ones. This study employs a subjective approach to examine fuel poverty in Jordan. Analyzing data from a survey of 490 participants in Zarqa Governorate, it evaluates the main determinants of subjective fuel poverty. The survey was conducted over 1 month, from March 10 to April 10, 2022. Findings reveal that the sample households experience challenges related to fuel poverty. The modeling of subjective indicators indicates an association between income level and the probability of being in arrears with utility bills. Moreover, the results highlight issues such as an inability to maintain adequate summer and winter temperatures and the presence of leaks, damp, and rot. In light of these findings, policy interventions should focus on enhancing energy efficiency and supporting vulnerable low-income households, particularly those in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors of city life satisfaction across Europe. Data come from the recent fifth survey on quality of life in European cities and cover 83 cities located in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association countries, the United Kingdom, the Western Balkan Region and Turkey. In addition to running classical econometric analysis, we quantify the relative importance of the various determinants of overall satisfaction with life in cities, thus offering novel insights to shape evidence-based urban policies. The results highlight that two main policy-relevant areas contribute to the satisfaction with city life: the presence of amenities, on the one hand, and the inclusiveness and safety feeling, on the other hand. Socio-economic characteristics are generally not relevant, with the exception of economic insecurity. JEL Codes : R10, R58, I31 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social sustainability has received the least attention among the three‐pillars of sustainable development in the mining regions of Africa. However, with the rapid population growth globally, social sustainability assessment using clearly defined indicators is becoming essential to ensuring urban sustainability, specifically in mining regions. This study assessed the contribution of the mining industry to the social sustainability of the Chingola district in terms of cumulative impacts and the extent to which CSR initiatives have contributed to a social sustainability profile. Mixed methods including in‐depth key informant interviews guide and observation were used to collect data on social sustainability. The data were collected from 10 out of the 28 wards of Chingola, selected using a systematic random sampling. A total of 500 households of which 49 households (with a sampling unit of 10) and 10 key informants' stakeholders were purposively selected. Aggregation and normalization techniques were used to construct the composite indicators depicting the strength of each indicator. The social sustainability of the Chingola district based on the calculated composite indicators varies from weak‐to‐moderate sustainability. The proposed indicators could serve local government and mining companies, redirect development schemes, re‐strategize the stakeholders' involvement, and support corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive statistical analysis of energy poverty indicators is undertaken in the present paper, in an attempt to further understand the roots and results of the problem in Greece. Specifically, time-series data sets were analysed using various objective indicators, i.e. 10%, 2M, 2M EXP, M/2, M/2 EXP, as well as subjective indicators. Chi-square tests of Independence were performed and binary logistic regression models were developed to predict energy poverty (indicators of 10%, 2M and M/2), based on critical socio-economic factors. The logit model based on the 10% indicator presented the highest performance, reaching 32%. According to this model, the types of households mostly exposed to energy poverty were single families with dependent children and households located in Macedonia, increasing the relative probability of energy poverty by 7.0 and 6.5 times per unit, respectively. The outcomes derived can help policy-makers towards designing more targeted policies for tackling energy poverty in Greece.

The paper studied the phenomenon of energy poverty in the Municipality of Agrafa, a mountainous region of Greece, aiming to enhance knowledge on the phenomenon within mountainous areas. For this purpose, a primary survey was undertaken, and various objective and subjective indicators were monitored. It was found that 62.4% of households in Agrafa are classified as energy poor according to the 10% index based on actual energy costs, while the percentage escalates to 91.3% based on required costs. Also, the compression of energy needs emerges as a significant side of the problem. The subjective indicators highlight supplementary behavioural aspects of the phenomenon. A set of statistical tests was applied, i.e. cluster analysis, Chi-square tests of independence and regression analysis, enriching the outcomes of the research. Finally, the directions of energy policy are evaluated, highlighting the need for targeted research and policy measures adapted to mountainous areas.

The built environment has great influence over the sustainability of societies as well as over people's quality of life. Quality of life (QoL) is a broad concept that has different definitions across diverse bodies of knowledge. The social–cultural environment and the characteristics of the built environment influence people's perception of QoL. This study aims to identify and analyse the factors that impact QoL and sustainable development in the urban context. A systematic literature review was developed to understand QoL concepts and to identify urban indicators that contribute to the multidimensional evaluation of urban QoL. The results include (1) a holistic overview of QoL concepts and indicators; (2) the proposal of a holistic urban QoL concept; (3) the identification of urban QoL dimensions and indicators that contribute to urban QoL evaluation. The main contribution of this study is its discussion of the multidimensional nature of QoL, including objective and subjective dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Promoting pedestrian mobility represents a strategy for achieving a sustainable transportation system, where problems such as traffic congestion, air and noise pollution are minimized. For this aim, it becomes fundamental to identify pedestrian environments that can facilitate and encourage making trips by walking. The objective of this paper is to provide a practical methodology that can assist the analyst in identifying the best alternative among some pedestrian paths with different characteristics. (2) Methods: To this aim, subjective, objective and mixed indicators were proposed to measure the performance criteria adopted for evaluating the alternatives. A multi-criteria analysis was applied as a tool of evaluation. (3) Results: The findings of the work suggest that pedestrians seem to appreciate the tree-lined paths and prefer to keep bike lines separated from pedestrian paths. Number of crosswalks is relevant in the evaluation of pedestrian paths, especially when there are shops along the path. Aspects related to the conditions of the pavement and to comfort and environment are less relevant. (4) Conclusions: The use of both subjective and objective indicators allows consideration of some different aspects and discovery of more interesting findings. Management strategies could be oriented to make the paths more delightful and serviceable for the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature review implies that despite the Great Recession of 2008 the economic policy paradigm continues to prevail in assessing and measuring the well-being in the EU countries. This means that the institutional goals and the follow-up policies also tend to favor economic over non-economic objectives. This paper examines to what extent the Great Recession has increased or decreased the influence of economic factors on subjective well-being and the implications for policy-making. Regression analysis of subjective well-being data from 2006, 2011, and 2016 from 16 countries from the European Union shows that the influence of economic factors on subjective well-being is stronger than before the Great Recession in the majority of the analyzed countries. It has also revealed that satisfaction with one's standard of living is a much stronger predictor of subjective well-being than the overall economic situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive statistical analysis of energy poverty indicators is undertaken in the present paper, in an attempt to further understand the roots and results of the problem in Greece. Specifically, time-series data sets were analysed using various objective indicators, i.e. 10%, 2M, 2M EXP, M/2, M/2 EXP, as well as subjective indicators. Chi-square tests of Independence were performed and binary logistic regression models were developed to predict energy poverty (indicators of 10%, 2M and M/2), based on critical socio-economic factors. The logit model based on the 10% indicator presented the highest performance, reaching 32%. According to this model, the types of households mostly exposed to energy poverty were single families with dependent children and households located in Macedonia, increasing the relative probability of energy poverty by 7.0 and 6.5 times per unit, respectively. The outcomes derived can help policy-makers towards designing more targeted policies for tackling energy poverty in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studied the phenomenon of energy poverty in the Municipality of Agrafa, a mountainous region of Greece, aiming to enhance knowledge on the phenomenon within mountainous areas. For this purpose, a primary survey was undertaken, and various objective and subjective indicators were monitored. It was found that 62.4% of households in Agrafa are classified as energy poor according to the 10% index based on actual energy costs, while the percentage escalates to 91.3% based on required costs. Also, the compression of energy needs emerges as a significant side of the problem. The subjective indicators highlight supplementary behavioural aspects of the phenomenon. A set of statistical tests was applied, i.e. cluster analysis, Chi-square tests of independence and regression analysis, enriching the outcomes of the research. Finally, the directions of energy policy are evaluated, highlighting the need for targeted research and policy measures adapted to mountainous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relevance. The article is devoted to the issue of scientific measurement of the quality of life of the population. The relevance of this issue is determined by the need to overcome the differences in modern science in the interpretations of the concept of «quality of life». The aim: systematization of research concepts of quality of life in sociology and related sciences. Methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific literature. Results. The novelty of the work lies in the formulation of a universal, integrative definition of the concept of «quality of life», which would not contradict the interpretations existing in scientific practice, but, on the contrary, synthesize them. The following definition is proposed: quality of life is a comprehensive subjective-objective characteristic of the existence of society, which is expressed in the level of satisfaction of its current needs and can be measured both by objective indicators of the adequacy of resources to satisfy the needs of society, and by subjective assessments of the level of satisfaction of their own needs by members of this society. As a result of a detailed study and systematization of various concepts of quality of life, the author concludes that there are two main scientific ways of measuring this phenomenon – subjective and objective. The reasoning of the conclusion is given that the subjective way of measuring the quality of life of the population is to measure its social well-being (subjective well-being, satisfaction with the quality of life, level of happiness, or harmony), and the objective way of measuring the quality of life of the population is to measure the standard of living. Findings. The distinction between subjective and objective methods of measuring the quality of life of the population allows not only explaining the reasons for the discrepancies in the definitions of the concept of «quality of life», but also proposing a universal definition. Refining the measurement method when designing quality of life indicators avoids confusion in interpretations, and to achieve the most accurate measurement result, subjective and objective indicators must be analyzed. To systematically measure the quality of life of the population, a comparison of objective and subjective indicators is necessary. Objective indicators are an external (expert) assessment of the adequacy of resources that are necessary to meet the needs underlying a high quality of life, and subjective ones as a measure of how these needs are met in terms of their carriers. A minimum list of necessary and mandatory areas for assessing the quality of life is proposed, taking into account its objective and subjective nature: work, financial situation, age, family, personal desires, social status, education, state. It is assumed that such a system of indicators not only allows taking into account the subjective-objective nature of the phenomenon of quality of life as an indicator of the degree of satisfaction of human needs, but also makes it possible to make a full comparison of the results of measuring the quality of life of different subjects.

The phenomenon of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the whole globe, the consequences of which are long lasting and difficult to estimate. The Republic of Moldova, being a developing country, could not overcome these serious consequences, caused by the reduction of public health, the reduction of the work capacity of the population, the deplorable condition of the medical system, caused by small investments in health, etc. Human society has been put to hard tests of survival of patients with this virus, the incidence rate of diseases was about 11%. Thanks to the financial aid of the European Union, Romania and other countries, the Republic of Moldova managed to cope with things in the fight against Covid. This article presents the results of the research of the authors, participants of the national project "Assessment of health of post – COVID - 19 patients in the Republic of Moldova", which aimed to develop the Electronic Register of patients with Covid - 19 (March 2020 - June 2021), which will allow monitoring the process of treatment and recovery of the consequences of this disease, by assessing the state of health and quality of life both at admission and at discharge of the respective patients. Based on the concept of quality of life as a socio-economic category and its interconnections with health, the authors proposed the system of medical indicators to assess the health and quality of life of patients affected by covid. In the authors' opinion, a special role in the treatment and treatment of comorbidities belongs to comorbidities, so the authors selected them as separate study subjects to prove their negative impact on the form of the disease and the state of health and quality of life at discharge of patients.

The built environment has great influence over the sustainability of societies as well as over people’s quality of life. Quality of life (QoL) is a broad concept that has different definitions across diverse bodies of knowledge. The social–cultural environment and the characteristics of the built environment influence people’s perception of QoL. This study aims to identify and analyse the factors that impact QoL and sustainable development in the urban context. A systematic literature review was developed to understand QoL concepts and to identify urban indicators that contribute to the multidimensional evaluation of urban QoL. The results include (1) a holistic overview of QoL concepts and indicators; (2) the proposal of a holistic urban QoL concept; (3) the identification of urban QoL dimensions and indicators that contribute to urban QoL evaluation. The main contribution of this study is its discussion of the multidimensional nature of QoL, including objective and subjective dimensions.

Given the importance of measuring QOL and the need for sound and efficient planning to improve and enhance the well-being of citizens, the objective of this study was to investigate QOL in rural areas of Tehran province, Iran. To this end, the relevant literature and secondary sources were used to develop a questionnaire whose validity was determined by a panel of experts. To the best knowledge of the authors, no similar study has assessed QOL in rural areas of Tehran province and none of them has compared objective and subjective QOL in rural areas. The findings showed that in terms of objective QOL, which indicates the minimum living standards, the villagers in Tehran province were in a moderate to high status, but in the subjective QOL, about 20% of the villagers were rated as poor. According to the findings, there was a significant difference between the residents of different rural areas of Tehran in terms of objective and subjective QOL at the 99% level, but the differences were not the same. This calls for policymakers' attention. In this regard, policies should be put on the planning agenda to reduce rural migration by adopting a coordinated approach to rural and urban development and improving the physical and environmental conditions of rural communities to provide welfare services and reduce the disparity between urban and rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized that fuel poverty is a multidimensional social problem triggering significant adverse consequences to households. This paper aims at developing approaches and algorithms to identify the fuel poor households in a region, which is a prerequisite to implement effective tackling policies, by utilizing the collected microdata within the framework of the EU-SILC survey. In this context, emphasis is given on the examination of key subjective indicators to monitor the evolution of fuel poverty in Greece over the last decade. Furthermore, they are utilized to formulate composite indicators aiming to describe the problem of fuel poverty, including its depth, more precisely. The results of the analysis showed that 4 out of 10 households in Greece face some type of fuel poverty, while the problem for 1 in 3 of them has more structural characteristics. Based on these findings, two different logistic regression models are developed that seek to correlate the probability of a household suffering from fuel poverty with specific and easily identifiable characteristics. The types of the dwelling, if it is privately owned or rented, the location of residence, the household’s income, the level of education of the head of the household, etc., were identified as the main drivers of fuel poverty in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to multiple natural hazard-related disasters will become more common due to climate change. This article reports on the development and validation of a cumulative measure of exposure to natural hazard-related disasters (2013–2017) at the area level, and an individual-level measure of disaster impact using data from the Longitudinal Cohort Study on the Filipino Child and linked data from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT). Caregiver reports of cumulative exposure to disasters had statistically significant associations with disasters reported by neighborhood officials and with disasters in EM-DAT. Using ecometric techniques we generated a reliable community average measure of exposure to natural hazard-related disasters. Based on neighbor but not individual self-reports this exogenous measure of disaster exposure in the local area was more strongly related to EM-DAT and official neighborhood reports than individual reports. To capture household variation we developed an individual-level measure of disaster impacts. Disaster impact was associated with measures of exposure (individual and community average), community ratings by officials, and EM-DAT but only moderately associated with the community average exposure. Both the community average and disaster impacts measures were associated with household income and the adequacy of income in households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper will discuss the characteristics of transition in adulthood of young people with mental health problems. Foreign, and especially domestic scientific research on how these young people reach adulthood and whether they differ from their clinically invisible peers, is extremely rare. Therefore the aim of our analysis was to describe the characteristics of the way young people with the diagnosis of mental disorders grow up. In constructing the conceptual framework of the study we proceeded from the integrativesystemic model of transition. This is a model that respects the so-called, structural, as well as subjective markers of adulthood. The first group consists of objectively visible indicators of the place on the growing-up scale. The second group of indicators relates to the degree of the subjective independence of the young person from his/her parents. Our main research assumption is that along with gaining the structural indicators of growing up, the subjective independence of young people is increasing. The sample included 50 respondents - users of psychiatric services at the Daily Hospital of the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade. The data were collected via a questionnaire and processed by statistical methods. Findings have shown that the respondents are highly dependent on their parents: in financial, residential, and emotional respects. The transition of these young people to the adulthood is difficult, and what is particularly concerning is that, compared to the younger people, the older respondents in the sample are more dependent on their parents in all analyzed indicators of the place on the growing-up scale. Further research should deal with the causes and consequences of the ongoing and/or discontinued growing-up process of young people diagnosed with mental disorders.

In 2019, four major cities from Romania were included in the world quality of life ranking: Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Bucharest (it is a ranking that includes 226 cities, in which the first place is positioned Canberra, while the last place is occupied by Caracas). The quality of life index used represents an estimate of the overall quality of life by using an empirical formula that takes into account eight indicators: the purchasing power index, the pollution index, the ratio of the price of housing and income, the cost of life index, the safety index, the health care index, the transport time index and the climate index. It should be stressed, however, that on the one hand, in any process of measuring the quality of life are used not only the objective indicators, which describes the conditions of life, but also the subjective indicators, which assess the state of life through a perception „filtered by expectations, aspirations, values", who rather targets the happiness, the satisfaction with life. On the other hand, the concept of quality of life is a multidisciplinary one, its definition being a wider one if we think about the multitude of indicators that should be used. The present article proposes only a description of the housing conditions in Romania in the European context, using the latest statistical data who directly affecting the living conditions of the Romanian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology & Space / Sociologija i Prostor is the property of Institut za drustvena istrazivanja u Zagrebu (Institute for Social Research of Zagreb) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Numerous resilience measurement frameworks for climate programmes have emerged over the past decade to operationalise the concept and aggregate results within and between programmes. Proxies of resilience, including subjective measures using perception data, have been proposed to measure resilience, but there is limited evidence on their validity and use for policy and practice. This article draws on research on the Decentralising Climate Funds project of the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters programme, which supports communities in Mali and Senegal to improve climate resilience through locally controlled adaptation funds. It explores attributes of resilience from this bottom‐up perspective to assess its predictors and alignment with food security, as a proxy of well‐being. We find different patterns when comparing resilience and the well‐being proxy, illustrating that the interplay between the two is still unclear. Results also point to the importance of contextualising resilience, raising implications for aggregating results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child forms a normative basis for the understanding and measurement of child well-being. Nevertheless, there is still the question of how far the rights are reflected in the everyday lives of children. This study is aimed at constructing a bottom-up approach to study reflections of rights in children's perceptions of a good life. It tries to demonstrate the relationships between the indicators of subjective well-being in the rights framework (such as feeling safe, being heard and cared for and treated fairly) and the subjective perception of good life measured among eight-year old children. Three sources of well-being - family, school and friends are put in focus. The empirical basis of the paper comes from the second wave of the Children's Worlds study. Its sub-sample of over 8000 eight-year old children from eight European countries is used. Sub-indices of rights reflections in four rights domains (protection, provision, participation and non-discrimination) and a general index of a rights reflection in children's well-being assessments are constructed as an operational model for data analysis. The analysis revealed that provision (being cared for) and protection (feeling safe) are the leading determinants of a good life in children's perspectives, while participation (being heard and listened to) and non-discrimination (being treated fairly) are the most diverse determinants of a good life across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Socioloski Pregled is the property of Srpsko Sociolosko Drustvo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Covid-19 outbreak has mostly affected people in the second half of their lives, at risk of isolation and loneliness; in fact, the impact of the pandemic was even more severe for the well-being of the elderly. Such a recent event has to be framed within the challenge of the demographic increase of people aged 65 years or older, which is particularly relevant in the European context. This paper explores which gaps have to be filled up in order to make cities a suitable place for the elderly to live in, particularly after any emergence of dysfunction and fragility in health, employment, transportation and welfare systems due to the pandemic. We assess the relative contribution of each regressor to the explained variance, that may advise policy makers about which urban features are perceived to be the most relevant for the elderly, even before the pandemic, and must be implemented. Our results have several policy implications. The assessment should provide a contribution to European decision-making processes headed to improve the perception of age-friendliness in urban environments, implementing a paradigm for reference, given the great heterogeneity of features characterizing European cities. • It is important to understand suitability of urban environments for the elderly. • The analysis covers 83 cities in Europe and the perceptions of their citizens. • The age-friendly city environment was associated with an elder-friendly city. • The R-squared decomposition identifies the most relevant features of cities. • Our results contribute to improve policies for cities after Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines approaches to defining and measuring quality of life. Each approach to measuring the quality of life contains information that is not contained in the other measures. It describes the economic, subjective and social indicators. The strengths and weaknesses of those indicators are also analyzed.

The construction of subjective indicators for measuring phenomena expressed in an ordinal scale is a central issue in social sciences, particularly in sociology and psychology. In this paper, we propose the use of a subjective indicator by groups of units (for example, by geographical area) based on the ‘distance’ between the empirical cumulative distribution and a hypothetical cumulative distribution of reference. This approach allows to avoid the awkward question of the ‘quantification’ of an ordinal variable, i.e., the conversion of an ordinal variable into an interval variable. As an example of application, we consider life satisfaction data coming from the annual multipurpose survey on “Aspects of Daily Life”, carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, and we present a comparison with some classical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job insecurity has become increasingly evident in European countries in recent years. In Germany, legislation has increased insecurity through erosion of the standard employment relationship. Fixed-term contracts are central to definitions of insecurity based on atypical or precarious work but there is still limited understanding of what creates insecurity and how it affects workers. Drawing on Bourdieu’s thesis that “insecurity is everywhere”, the relationships between subjective and objective measures of insecurity are examined for their impact on the 5-year trajectories of life satisfaction of men and women in the age group 27-30. Latent growth curve analysis of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for 2010-2014 highlights the adverse and lasting effects of subjective concerns about job insecurity on life satisfaction trajectories. This association cuts across educational groups, with far reaching implications as subjective concerns about job security permeate young worker’s lives well beyond the objective condition of being employed on a fixed-term contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses both objective and subjective indicators to investigate the impacts of coal mining on the wellbeing of host communities. It also looks at the relationship between these two measurements of wellbeing. Both objective and subjective indicators show that coal mining has no obvious impact on family income, but negative impacts on air quality. Subjective wellbeing indicators also reveal the negative impacts of coal mining on water safety, inflation rate, price of necessities and income disparity. The only positive impact associated with coal mining is the improvement of housing conditions, revealed by only objective indicators. Some objective indicators are good predictors of subjective wellbeing indicators (e.g. income and air quality) using both aggregated data and individual data, others not (e.g. housing and education). The inconsistency between objective and subjective indicators might be attributed to scope issues, scale discordance etc. This paper empirically confirms both sets of indicators are needed when measuring wellbeing, and illustrates approaches to examine the relationship between objective and subjective wellbeing indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This article discusses the rationale for measuring national well-being, and examines the use of subjectively oriented well-being measures in the context of public policy. Recent years have witnessed growing attention towards the concept and measurement of well-being, both within academic disciplines, intergovernmental organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as in many governments across Europe, including the Nordic countries. Economic indicators have commonly been regarded as proxies of societal progress of nations, but indicators of well-being have increasingly been applied in order to complement or replace these measures. Methods: Well-being indicators of the WHO “Health 2020” framework are critically examined with particular attention given to the subjective aspects of well-being. Literature discussing the rationale for subjective indicators is reviewed. As a background, central theoretical and measurement perspectives on well-being are outlined, including hedonic, eudaimonic and objective list approaches. Results: The WHO refers to well-being in definitions of health and mental health, but has primarily reported on disease. The “Health 2020” framework marked a shift in this concern. One of the main targets of “Health 2020” concerns well-being, involving six core indicators. Only one indicator refers to well-being as subjective experience. Literature supports more extensive use of subjective indicators in combination with objective measures. Conclusions: Although consensus on definitions and instruments is lacking, subjective and objective measures of national well-being may jointly contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of societal progress, as well as a broader conception of health. Further research is required, particularly with regard to eudaimonic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the quality of life has been one of the many topics of interest to scientific researchers, planners and governments. Since the socio-cultural and environmental factors influence quality of life, there are different levels of subjective indicators for quality of life in different societies. Also, to this important debate, the lack of scientific research in the study area and ethnicity there with their special features in this region, by using descriptive and analytical studies relying on documents, the subjective indicators of quality of life in South Jafarbay (Turkmen county) have been investigated. The traditional culture of Turkmen people in the study area with their specific social, religious and livelihood characteristics was one of the reasons of selecting this issue. Unlike the results of other researchers across the country, these people believe they are living a desirable life. They also believe that achieving higher levels of well-being generally requires moving away from the beliefs and their ethnic – cultural characteristics. In this regard, eight dimensions of life quality including education, health, security, environment, infrastructure, employment and income, leisure time and social cohesion and interaction have been taken into consideration and the questionnaires for collecting field data was provided. Also, to understand the factors affecting quality of life, 11 independent variables including age, education, number of people employed in the household, facilities, household income, assets, housing built up area, attachment to the rural and regional environment, and specific ethnic-cultural features were examined. The reliability of questionnaires was assessed about 0.9 using Cronbach;#39s alpha. Based on stratified sampling, 8 villages out of 17 in the district were selected. The villages were selected based on potential model (for development classification) and totally 228 questionnaires were distributed. The results of the questionnaires using field study and statistical tests such as one-sample T test, Pierson mean and correlation were analyzed by SPSS software. The results showed that despite the subsistence and enjoyment of the facilities in the area was relatively low, but because of some reasons such as Turkmen traditional culture and social characteristics, religion and their livelihood, attachment to their ancestral places and also properties of introversion and isolationism, these deficiencies seem relatively low. So it can be said that the more the influence of ethnic features and adherence to Turkmen culture in the people of the area, the more their satisfaction level based on subjective indices of quality of life.

This paper puts forth a Multi-Stakeholder Spatial Decision Analysis (M-SSDA) which combines Multi-Stakeholders Decision Analysis (M-SDA) and GIS processing based on a collaborative, hybrid and adaptive evaluative approach to support the elaboration of enhancement strategies designed for resilient landscapes. This methodology has been tested in the research project "Cilento Labscape: An integrated model for the activation of a Living Lab in the National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni", which was conducted in the Cilento National Park (Southern Italy). The aim of the methodology is to find alternative touristic routes for the promotion of the Park. The different steps in the process will be described, as will the employment of multiple tools/techniques (interviews, GIS tools, Semantic Analysis, and Geo-Statistical Analysis) to improve the reliability of the decision-making process. The most relevant results of the methodology will also be outlined in terms of the transition from the identification of the perceived landscape's values to the acknowledgement of the shared values, and their consequent employment for the outlining of new thematic itineraries for the Park. To realise sustainable territorial strategies and preserve the landscape through bottom-up decision-making processes, the different local communities need to gain a new awareness of their identity shared values and make an active contribution towards promoting and managing their site-specific resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, most cross-country comparisons of children's subjective well-being have been conducted using single-item scales. Despite multi-item scales being more powerful for this purpose, they have seldom been tested on children when comparing results among more than 4 countries. Moreover, with very few exceptions, international comparisons have mostly been carried out using samples of children aged 12 or over and it is therefore uncertain how the scales available might work among younger populations, even if some scales have been tested in a few countries. We tested 3 psychometric scales on a sample of over 34,000 children from 15 countries aged mostly 10 and 12: the SLSS, the BMSLSS and the PWI-SC. We used the pooled database to identify models with a good fit by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, providing construct validity for each of the three scales for this set of countries. The comparability of the scales among countries was tested using Multi-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis to assess to what extent it is valid to make cross-national comparisons. Our results suggest that it is acceptable to compare correlations and regressions between most of the countries in our survey using each of these measures, with only a few exceptions. Some of the models using the specific modified SLSS version adopted in this research displayed promising results due to the fact that their correlations and regressions appeared to be comparable among all countries in the sample. However, mean scores for the overall indexes are only comparable among countries in some cases using partial intercept constraints. Two Multi-group Structural Equation Models including the three correlated multi-item psychometric scales plus two single-item scales (Overall Life Satisfaction and Overall Happiness Scale) displayed good fit indexes with constrained loadings for all countries, both for the 10 and 12-year-old samples. This result suggests that subjective well-being comparability increases among countries when using the five psychometric scales all together. With semi-partial constrained loadings and intercepts, fit statistics suggest that the means of this overall model can cautiously be compared among all countries: comparable items and not strictly comparable items were identified. Correlations among the psychometric scales and regressions of the multiple-item scales on the single-item scales clearly show different patterns among countries and variations according to age group, suggesting a high diversity of interrelations among these measures depending on age and different language and socio-cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the objective and subjective measures (objective and subjective indicators) of the concept of quality of life research have been discussed. Since the measures are specific, the most part of the paper discusses separately their development and their methodological specifics. At the end of the paper the value of their joint use in the research has been emphasised. Both kinds of measures have their advantages and disadvantages, but in conceptual sense they are complementary. The quality of life is a complicated and multileveled construct which requires complex research approaches. Research has proved that parallel use of both kinds of indicators significantly improves comprehension of the quality of life of inhabitants of a certain geographical area.

In this article, we map out studies and methodologies used to build subjective indicators of access to justice, focusing on experiences with and management of conflict. We propose a blended measure of access to justice, based on critical analysis of key studies, and work with a broad understanding of what access to justice means and what a lack of access implies. This definition includes the right to a just resolution of conflicts by any appropriate means (not necessarily via state justice) and also takes into account individuals' awareness of their rights. This work relies on survey data collected between 2010 and 2014 and covers the procedural and substantive dimensions of access to justice. We have documented state-of-the-art measurement and composition of indicators of access to justice, noting key limitations and ways to overcome them, and emphasizing construct validity and filters used in the definition of access to justice. We conclude from the proposed blended measure that, depending on where emphasis is placed-on conflict or on seeking institutional justice- the phenomenon being measured will be different, as people react in different ways to different types of potentially conflicting situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a framework and a tool to assess transport sustainability in Swedish cities that was developed for and together with some cities in Sweden in strong cooperation with the researchers. The tool, called the Transport Sustainability Barometer (TSB), includes a set of hierarchical indicators to measure sustainability in respect to efficiency, accessibility, safety, liveability, emissions, and resource use. The novelty of the TSB is that it proposes the use of both objectively and subjectively measurable indicators, i.e., how the population perceives sustainability of transport, their satisfaction with the transport system, and its effects on the economy, the environment, and social issues. This article also presents the application of the tool in a city in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mismatch between a country’s macroeconomic performance and the people’s economic well-being represents the overall economic ill-being in a society. This mismatch is measurable using objective indicators such as the inflation rate and the joblessness rate as well as subjective indicators such as personal evaluations on the inflation and joblessness rates. That is, the inflation rate shows the affordability of goods and services; and the subjective evaluation indicates whether people see the goods and services as affordable or not. In addition, the joblessness rate indicates the portion of the labor force that does not enjoy gainful employment; and the subjective evaluation indicates whether people see themselves as jobless or not. The results for the Philippines show a high-level of overall economic ill-being especially in the decade covering 2005 to 2014. This finding unveils a different scene from what the mainstream discourses are portraying as the current state of the Philippine society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]