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Studies

Ardelt (2003a): study US 1997

Publication

Author(s):
Ardelt, M.
Title:
Emperical Assessment of a Three Dimensional Wisdom Scale.
Source:
Research on Aging, 2003, Vol. 25, 275 - 324

Investigation

Public
55+ aged, USA, North-Central Florida, 1997
Sample
Non-probability snowball sample
Respondents
N = 174
Non Response
drop out 30%
Assessment
Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)
Mailed questionaire and face-to-face interview

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on four questions:

How have you felt during the past month?

A  How have you been feeling in general?
    6  in excellent spirits
    5  in very good spirits
    4  in good spirits mostly
    3  my spirits have been up and down
    2  in low spirits mostly
    1 in very low spirits
B  Have you felt so sad, discouraged, hopeless or had so
     many problems that you wondered if anything was worthwhile?
    1  extremely so, to the point of just about given up
    2  very much so
    3  quite a bit
    4  some, enough to bother me
    5  a little bit
    6  not at all
C  Have you felt downhearted or blue
    1  all the time
    2  most of the time
    3  a good bit of the time
    4  some of the time
    5  al title of the time
    6  none of the time
D  How depressed or cheerful have you been?
     0  very depressed
     1
     2
     3
     4
     5
     6
     7
     8
     9
    10 very cheerful
Classification:
A-AOL-cm-mq-*-5-a
Author's label:
Cheerful - Depressed Mood
Error estimates:
Cronbach's alpha=.83
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 5 On range 0-10
Mean:
4.02 8.04
SD:
0.75 1.50
Full text:
Self report on single question:

How depressed or cheerful have you been during the past month......?
0  very depressed
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10  very cheerful

Item in Dupuy's 'General Wellbeing Schedule'
Classification:
A-AOL-cm-sq-n-11-a
Author's label:
Depressed or cheerful
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 0 - 10 On range 0-10
Mean:
7.44 7.44
SD:
2.02 2.02
Full text:
Self report on single question:

"How happy, satisfied or pleased have you been with your personal life during the past month? Please circle the number for the one answer that comes closest to the way you have been feeling."

1  extremely happy, could not have been more satisfied or        
       pleased
2  very happy most of the time
3  generally satisfied, pleased
4  sometimes fairly satisfied, sometimes fairly unhappy
5  generally dissatisfied, unhappy
6  very dissatisfied, unhappy most of the time



Item in Davies et al (1988) 'Rand Mental Health Inventory'
Classification:
O-SLP-cm-sq-v-6-a
Author's label:
Life satisfaction
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 6 On range 0-10
Mean:
7.35 -
SD:
0.79 -

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding wisdom Current wisdom