![]() ![]() The most unhappy (happy) rating is given the secondary value “0” (“10”) and the positions of the other ratings on the secondary scale result from the proportionally stretching the scale to the new range. To make the results obtained from different measures comparable, Veenhoven ( 1993:115) proposed to transform the various primary verbal scales into one common secondary scale, for which a scale of 0–10 has become the usual choice. This was not seen as a problem until data had to be compared that had been obtained using different scales of happiness measurement, in particular those with different numbers of response options. In most measures this number is within the range of 3 to 11. Linear Transformation to a Common Secondary ScaleĮach measure of happiness has its own number of response alternatives. Three methods for the conversion of sample data into information on the happiness distribution in the population are in use: data collected from different samples for a different or for a general purpose, has not given rise to a different approach. The application of “secondary” data at a later stage, i.e. If a statistically significant correlation is established within this sample, it is simply declared to apply to the population as well. data collected for this specific study within the same sample of individuals. Another possible explanation may be found in the fact that most initial studies in this field are correlational studies based on primary data, i.e. The fixation that social scientists have on hypothesis testing may prevent them seeing parameter estimation to be an at least equally valuable component of statistical inference. We have not found any investigation into this surprising phenomenon, so our possible explanations of this are necessarily speculative. In the past however, researchers in this field paid very little attention to the conversion of this sample distribution data into information about the corresponding happiness distribution in the population represented by this sample, at least explicitly. Happiness Distribution in Samples and Populations In these surveys, the respondent has to select one of the integer numbers, presented e.g. The World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven 2011), further abbreviated WDH, includes a collection of combinations of a leading question and the corresponding set of the various alternatives presented to the respondents in happiness studies these combinations are referred to in the WDH as “measures of happiness”.Īn increasing number of surveys applies ten-step, or ten-point, “numerical scales”. The respondent has to select one out of a number of response alternatives. “Taking all together, how happy are you with your life these days?”. The most frequently chosen method to measure happiness in a nation is by self-report of the respondents to a single question, e.g. using “smileys”) their number per question varies between 2 and 12 in far most cases. textual), numerical (using integer code and/or rank order numbers) or pictorial (e.g. Usually, it is done by drawing a sample from the population under study and by asking each respondent in the sample to answer a single closed question with a limited number of response options. Happiness, or any other aspect of quality of life, in a nation or some other collectivity is generally measured at the individual level. ![]()
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