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Studies

Smith (1979): study US 1970

Publication

Author(s):
Smith, T.W.
Title:
Happiness: Time Trends, Seasonal Variations, Intersurvey Differences, and Other Mysteries.
Source:
Social Psychology Quarterly, 1979, Vol. 42, 18 - 30

Investigation

Public
18+ aged, general public, United States, 1970
Survey name
Gallup poll
Sample
Probability multistage stratified area sample
Respondents
N = 1517
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI)

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

In general, how happy would you say you are ?
3  very happy
2  fairly happy
1  not happy
Classification:
O-HL-g-sq-v-3-I
Remarks:
Table 3 refers to this item as A6 but it is item A7. In the appendix the question wordings A6 and A7 are reversed (personal communication Tom Smith 12-10-2001)
Page in publication:
22
Observed distribution
Frequencies
1: 6.2%,   2: 49.5%,   3: 44.3%   (total 100%)
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 3 On range 0-10
Mean:
2.38 7.50
SD:
0.60 1.83