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Studies

Headey & Wearing (1981): study AU AU Victoria 1978

Publication

Author(s):
Headey, B.; Wearing, A.J.
Title:
Australians' Priorities, Satisfaction and Well-Being.
Source:
Monograph in Public Policy Studies, nr. 4, University of Melbourne, 1981, Australia

Investigation

Public
Adults, general public, Melbourne, Australia, 1978-1981
Sample
Probability simple random sample
Respondents
N = 31
Non Response
0
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
31 respondents surveyed in 1978, to be re-surveyed in January 1981 were interviewed in-depth in December 1980/January 1981 by a qualified psychologist

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question asked twice

'How do you feel about your life as a whole?'
1  terrible
2  very unhappy
3  unhappy
4  mostly dissatisfied
5  mixed feelings
6  mostly satisfied
7  pleased
8  very pleased
9  delighted
Classification:
O-DT-u-sqt-v-9-a
Full text:
In-depths interview by a qualified psychologist involving open questions and probes about various topics, such as activities, friendships, sources of self-self fulfilment and life-satisfaction. Transcripts of the interviews were then scored by two coders, who were unaware of the surveys results. The coders scored life-satisfaction using the following scale.

'How does the respondent feel about his/her life as a whole'?
1  terrible
2  very unhappy
3  unhappy
4  mostly dissatisfied
5  mixed feelings
6  mostly satisfied
7  pleased
8  very pleased
9  delighted
Classification:
O-DT-u-fi-v-9-a
Error estimates:
Correlation between Coder 1 and Coder 2 +0.64

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding In-depth interview