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Pooling Time Series Based on Slightly Different Questions About the Same Topic Forty Years of Survey Research on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in The Netherlands

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  • Tineke DeJonge
  • Ruut Veenhoven
  • Wim Kalmijn
  • Lidia Arends

Abstract

Survey research on subjective wellbeing in The Netherlands started in the early 1970s. The time series happiness and life satisfaction that have emerged since then are unfortunately based on slightly different survey items of which one part uses verbal response scales and another part uses numerical response scales. The diversity of the survey items and a number of other measurement issues, such as the effects of changes in survey mode, hamper comparison over time and make it difficult to establish whether life became any better over the last forty years. These problems can be tackled using the recently developed Reference Distribution Method with which responses to equivalent but not identical survey questions can be pooled to obtain long, consistent time series. We applied the Reference Distribution method to pool time series of happiness and life satisfaction. We conclude that in the past 40 years the Dutch have become slightly happier and satisfied with their lives. Copyright The Author(s) 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Tineke DeJonge & Ruut Veenhoven & Wim Kalmijn & Lidia Arends, 2016. "Pooling Time Series Based on Slightly Different Questions About the Same Topic Forty Years of Survey Research on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in The Netherlands," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 863-891, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:126:y:2016:i:2:p:863-891
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-0898-5
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