Pioneer in Quality of Urban Life Research: Robert W. Marans

Applied Research in Quality of Life -     

Pioneer in Subjective Quality of Life Research: Andrew E. Clark

Applied Research in Quality of Life -     

Bruno Zumbo: a Pioneer in the Psychometrics of Quality of Life

Applied Research in Quality of Life -     

Pioneer in QOL Research: Van Praag

Applied Research in Quality of Life -     

Cultural Participation and Individual Quality of Life: A Review of Research Findings

Objectives

To examine the research evidence for the contribution of cultural participation to individual quality of life; to discuss the utility of different types of QOL conceptualisation and measurement for cultural policy making.

Materials and Methods

A literature review of English language publications over the decade from 1995.

Results

There are few extant QOL studies, and very little empirical evidence to support the claims made by policymakers about culture and individual QOL.

Conclusions

The article suggests that a multi-dimensional, rather than a global, conceptualisation of QOL is best suited to the cultural policymaking context. Securing findings generalisable across all cultural forms, project types and all individuals or populations is not an achievable goal. Methodologies need to be developed and tested to understand how and why cultural participation affects individual QOL domains and these need to take into account differences in types of cultural participation, the quality of the experience, and between individuals in different social circumstances and in different life stages.     

Quality of Life in Mexico: A Formative Measurement Approach

Improving quality of life for community members has become increasingly important for policy makers and society in general. This article presents the results from a representative sample of citizens from south-western Mexico. Because it is argued that quality of life indexes are formative rather than reflective, an advanced statistical method (partial least square) is used to analyze the data. The quality of life index used in the study includes the domains of health, income, work, education, safety, public services, non-governmental community services, social contact, and happiness. The results suggest that monetary-oriented indicators such as income and work are less important for respondents than domains such as happiness, social contact, or community services. However, for some of the domains, age and gender inequalities are observed.