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Studies

Moller & Schlemmer (1989): study ZA 1983

Publication

Author(s):
Moller, V.; Schlemmer, L.
Title:
South African Quality of Life: A Research Note.
Source:
Social Indicators Research, 1989, Vol. 21, 279 - 291

Investigation

Public
Adult, general public, urban areas, South Africa, 1983
Sample
Respondents
N = 5587
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Structured personal interview

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on 5 questions:

A  Taking all things together, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? On the whole would you say you are."
5  very satisfied,
4   satisfied
3   neither, nor, don't know
2   dissatisfied
1   very dissatisfied

B  Would you tell me which one word in each pair of words best describes the life you are leading now? "
1  miserable                                              
2
3
4
5           
6
7  happy


C  "Would you tell me which one word in each pair of these words best describes the life you are leading now?"
1  rewarding                                                                   
2
3
4
5
6
7  frustration

D  " Do you often, sometimes, seldom or never feel that life is very good?"
3  often
2  sometimes
1  never

E "Taking all things together in your life, how would you say things are these days? Would you say you are."
5  very happy
4  happy
3  neither, nor, don't know
2  unhappy
1  very unhappy

Summation: not reported
Classification:
O-Sum-c-mq-*-*-b
Author's label:
Index of overall subjective well-being
Error estimates:
Reliability: Median Scores range 1-100 range 0-10 Validity: - Whites 82.3 7.3 - Indians 78.6 6.9 - Coloureds 78.3 6.9 - Blacks 63.7 5.4

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Urban living