Investigating subjective quality of life: using survey research methods

In the subjective approach to investigating quality of life (QOL), survey research methods are typically used to measure people’s assessment of their lives as a whole and domains of life such as their health, family life or their residential environment. The pioneering work at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR) along with the work of other researchers has often used the term subjective well-being to assess QOL. The chapter outlines how both researchers and public agencies on both sided of the Atlantic were actively involved from the 1960s and 1970s in the systematic collection of data on subjective well-being. That research drew on the psychological concept that people’s subjective assessment might involve subjective evaluation or cognitive judgements. Of importance was the suggestion that people’s satisfaction with their QOL might be investigated at different levels of spatial scale, such as the dwelling, the neighbourhood or community, and the wider urban environment, and would be influenced by individual characteristics and the objective environmental context in which people live. Models showing these relationships are presented. Agent-based modelling is identified as a potential innovation.