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Studies

Ouweneel & Veenhoven (1994): study ZZ 1980

Publication

Author(s):
Ouweneel, P.; Veenhoven, R.
Title:
Nation Characteristics and Average Happiness.
Source:
Working Paper, Department of Sociology, Erasmus University, 1994, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Investigation

Public
Adults, general public, 27 nations, ±1980
Sample
Selection from general population sample
Respondents
N = 27
Non Response
n.a.
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Most studies used face-to-face interviews

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

Equivalent questions on overall happiness. (Slightly different items used in the various nations)

Scores transformed to common range 0 - 10  by means of Thurstone procedure (response options weighted by experts)

Weights for responses:
9.3 -  very happy                              
6.7 -  pretty happy                            
6.5 -  fairly happy                              
4.1 -  not too happy                          
3.7 -  not very happy                        
2.7 -  not happy                                
1.0 -  not at all happy                        
0.6 -  very unhappy
Classification:
O-HV-*-sq-vt-11-a
Author's label:
Happiness
Full text:
Self report on single question:

Equivalent questions on life-satisfaction rated on various scales.  The items differ slightly in wording and number of the response options.

Scores are transformed to a common range 0 - 10 by means of expert weighting of response options (Thurstone's method).
Classification:
O-SLV-*-sq-nt-11-a
Author's label:
Life satisfaction

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Vulnerability of a nation