Survey Questions: A Warning

I just received the final results from our annual Quality of Life Survey (longitudinal data available on many questions now from 1985-2008!) I'm also finalizing the questions for our Race Relations Progress Report, which is a little complicated this year as we expand the number of populations within which we hope to receive statistically significant results.

So this note was timely, from the linguistically-obsessed folks at Language Log. Just a reminder of some of the pitfalls in constructing and conducting surveys.

Take a look!

Read more ...

Globescan Survey Results

In a survey prior to the Beyond GDP conference, GlobeScan asked 1,000 people in 10 countries which of two points of view was closest to their own:

• that governments should measure national progress using money-based statistics because economic growth is the most important focus for the country; or
• that health, social and environmental statistics are as important as economic ones and that governments should also use these for measuring national progress.

Here are their results:

Support for the ‘beyond GDP’ statement is especially strong in developed countries. The French and Italians are most enthusiastic, with 85 percent of people supporting true wealth measures from health and social statistics. Only 10 percent support purely economic indices. In the developing nations of India and Kenya, around 70 percent agree with the broader growth measures, but a significant minority of 27 percent still believe in economics alone.

This survey was conducted by GlobeScan, on behalf of Ethical Markets Media, in June to August 2007, and looked at opinions in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Kenya and Russia. Alignment in the United States seems likely. Previous studies (from the Americans Talk Issues Foundation) have shown up to 79 percent approval of a ‘scorecard’ of quality of life indicators in the United States.

For more information, see GlobeScan.

Read more ...

Community Indicators Down Under

Here's an update from the Metroblogging Melbourne (Australia) blog on the Community Indicators Victoria project.

The project measures down to separate suburban communities a wide range of measures, including "health, wellbeing, social support, volunteers, child health, perceptions of safety, crime, home internet access, food security, adequate work-life balance, transport limitations" and more.

The Bendigo Advertiser reported the results of the project as follows:

McCaughey Centre director John Wiseman said that despite the low national unemployment rate, low inflation and high consumer confidence, the number of people who could not afford food indicated a more comprehensive measurement of a community's wellbeing was needed.

Professor Wiseman said the new research resource aimed to include social, environmental, and cultural factors as well as economic data to create a picture of how our communities were progressing.

He said the Community Indicator project would create a more comprehensive picture of every local government area in Victoria, in order to raise the level of community debate on mental health and community wellbeing and help governments make better decisions.

The project launched yesterday by the McCaughey Centre, a combined VicHealth and Melbourne University organisation, will be regularly updated and provide data by municipality on a wide range of wellbeing issues include housing affordability, financial stress and unemployment, as well as indicators for other factors such as alcohol consumption, domestic violence, illicit drug use, obesity, exercise and fruit and vegetable intake.

I checked out some of the suburb-level, metro, and non-metro reports with great interest, after having not only visited Melbourne (and Bendigo and some of the other areas) last summer, but also watching the 2000 Essendon finals in AFL just yesterday with relatives just back from the area.

The scope of the project is exciting, and the web-based interface simple to navigate. I suggest watching this effort with great interest.

Read more ...