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Increasingly national statistical agencies are being called upon to provide high quality data on a regular basis, to be used by governments for evidence-based policy development. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) give impetus to this, and bring a prerequisite for comprehensive "poverty diagnosis." Often the data that are required are not available, or are incomplete while the concepts that are to be used may be ambiguous or require adaptation to local conditions. The poverty analysis of Lesotho in this article represents a contribution towards the emerging culture of evidence-based policy-making in developing countries in that it explores changes in key poverty-related social indicators. Techniques for dealing with poor data are discussed and an approach to developing a poverty threshold adapted to the local conditions of Lesotho is described.

This paper uses the Quality of Life research carried out by the Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD) Research Group to examine the importance respondents have attributed to a variety of goals in two rural communities in Ethiopia. The results are analysed at the community, household and individual levels to expose the contestation involved in expressions of goal preference at different levels, and the power relations that underlie and contribute to the formation of these goal preferences. In this way, taking communities or households as homogenous units is shown to be inaccurate and potentially misleading. Analysis of individual case studies also provides insight into the complex decision-making process where people with access to limited resources are forced to give certain goals priority depending on current exigencies. The fact that the ordering of priorities can change with time highlights the dangers of any one-off measure being considered as a time-independent picture of individuals’ goals. By relating the results of the research to Doyal and Gough’s Theory of Human Need, the paper considers to what extent ‘universal’ human needs correspond to the most important goals as expressed by respondents in the Ethiopian research. Whilst considerable support is found for needs such as health, food and shelter, several respondents in the two research sites consider needs such as education to be unnecessary. This incongruence between the priority of people’s goals and theories of need leads us to question what the aim of development should be: to assist beneficiaries in the pursuit of what they want, or provide the things that they are thought to need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bridges and Foundations Project on Urban Aboriginal Housing, a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) project financed primarily by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), has been operational in Saskatoon since early 2001. During these past 5 years over 50 specific research projects, community surveys, graduate theses, workshops, conferences, seminars and other meetings have been conducted under the auspices of the Bridges and Foundations Project as a whole. This paper first discusses the various social indicators employed in seven surveys, which probed deeply into the views of local Aboriginal residents of their quality of life, particularly their living conditions and affordable housing. The paper focuses less on the vast amount of data gathered from some 2,000 residents than on the relevance of social indicators used in these surveys—for example which were most or least informative, and which were of most or least interest and pertinence to the residents themselves. In the process it would seem pertinent to discern which of various research approaches seemed, in retrospect, to have been most appropriate, informative and beneficial. The paper then proceeds to place our experience in the Bridges and Foundations Project within a broader theoretical discussion of social indicator development; and concludes with a brief commentary on the linkages between theory and research and between academic and community-based research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its inception, the Community-University Institute for Social Research (CUISR) has been involved in a participatory process aimed at understanding the quality of life in Saskatoon. Informed by the results of Quality of Life (QoL) survey in 2001 and by a list of QoL action priorities from a community forum, the CUISR QoL module set out to survey community work on QoL action planning and implementation. In collaboration with a steering committee of community-based professionals, CUISR developed a methodology for managing and analyzing QoL initiatives related to community action implementation and planning. The Community Action Plan Information System (CAPIS) is the result of this process. CAPIS is a compendium, an analysis, and a purposive contextualization of QoL actions and recommendations from collaborative action plan documents, focused on the Saskatoon community. This paper provides a detailed examination of the concept and components of the Comprehensive Action Plan Information System (CAPIS), as well as the process and outcomes of a sampling of the QoL statement analysis and mapping project. The paper concludes by projecting how the CAPIS could evolve into a fully operational QoL strategic action plan and gap indicator, providing the foundation for a knowledge based, informed, reporting mechanism on the state and evolution of QoL action and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the first ever estimate of the number of children living poverty in developing countries was undertaken. The incidence of child poverty was estimated by establishing how many children suffer severe deprivation in at least one out of seven indicators which are internationally recognized as their rights as well as constitutive of poverty. This is a major step forward in the analysis of poverty. In this paper, we generalize these findings on the incidence of children living in poverty by exploring how to estimate the depth and severity of child poverty. Two countries can have the same proportion of children living in poverty, however, the actual plight of children could be very different depending on how many deprivations, on average, children suffer. In addition, even if they suffer from the same average number of deprivations, these deprivation could be the same for all children or be very unevenly distributed. We show how these considerations can be used to estimate the depth and severity of poverty. We use regional data to provide applied examples of this methodology. The method proposed in this paper is similar to the one used to estimate the incidence, depth and severity of income poverty. The paper also offers some possible generalizations and ways forward for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gathering large-scale data on tax evasion is an undisputable challenge in and of itself. Doing so in a country in transition from a communist to a democratic system is even more difficult. This paper discusses the challenges and presents a case study to show how they can be dealt with effectively. One important implication of the paper is that such a sample survey can be successful if it combines a careful sample design, research method and questionnaire design, and explicitly takes country-specific institutional and cultural features into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few psychometrically sound measures of life satisfaction suitable for children and adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale, development, and psychometric properties of a brief multidimensional life satisfaction scale appropriate for use with children of ages 8–18. The paper summarizes extant studies of its reliability and validity and discusses essential future research. Additionally, the potential uses of the BMSLSS in research and practice are elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Development Index (HDI) implicitly defines "human development" and ranks countries accordingly. To elucidate the HDI's meaning of "human development," the paper examines the sensitivity of the HDI to changes in its components, namely social indicators of education, longevity and standard of living. The HDI is next compared with two alternatives, the Life Quality Index (LQI) and a Time Allocation lndex (TAI) developed in this paper from the HDI's components. Also considered is the likely uncertainly in the HDI and what it means for HDI rankings. It is concluded that the HDI's weighting of the gross domestic product is in good agreement with peoples' preferences as revealed in the LQI and the TAI; further, that the HDI places many times greater weight on education than is indicated by peoples' allocation of time in developed countries. Literacy is accorded very high weight in the HDI, but its measure is unreliable. The HDI ranking of highly developed nations is so close and so uncertain that it is meaningless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the relevance of quantitative and qualitative aspects of social networks in a health context. The study combined a stress theoretical perspective with theories of social support and social capital in order to investigate the mechanisms behind the association of social network size and self-rated health. The main research question in the study is whether social integration affects health by changing stressor appraisal (perceived stressor intensity or anticipated stressor burden). The study used a survey of an Austrian student sample (n = 246) to measure two models of hypothetical exposure to a potentially stressful event. The findings indicate that individuals with larger trust and support networks consider potential stressors to be less threatening, which leads to a reduced level of stress symptoms and a better subjective health condition. The influence of network size on stressor appraisal is fully mediated by the perceived social embeddedness that these ties induce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the role of emotional intelligence (EI) and social support on the relationship between shyness and subjective well-being (SWB) in Chinese college students. The participants were 496 students, with an age range of 18-24, who were attending two different Chinese colleges. Data were collected by using the paper and pencil assessments including Cheek and Buss shyness scale, Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale, multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support, positive affect and negative affect scale and satisfaction with life scale. Path analysis showed that EI and social support partially mediated the relationship between shyness and SWB. The final model also revealed a significant path from shyness through EI and social support to SWB. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis found that the paths did not differ across sexes, but significantly differed between urban and rural areas. The results are discussed in terms of the conceptional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been growing interest in applied quality of life research and involving the community in the research process with the ultimate goal of improving the social and economic circumstances of people. Increasingly, community-university partnerships are seen as an effective vehicle to achieve this. The Community-University Institute for Social Research (CUISR) based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada is a successful example of such as partnership. CUISR’s quality of life module has conducted extensive research in Saskatoon and has been active in engaging the community in developing strategies and setting priorities for action. This paper serves as a brief introduction to the Special Edition of Social Indicators Research. It provides the context for the collection of articles contained in the publication and outlines its organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines volunteerism across three neighbourhood types that are differentiated by socio-economic status (SES) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The three neighbourhood types are defined as Low, Middle and High SES. The study used data collected from two telephone surveys ( n = 968 in 2001, n = 997 in 2004) using random-digit dialling, together with in-depth interview data collected from a selected set of survey participants ( n = 90). Neighbourhood type and length of residence are shown to have a strong bearing on volunteerism. The interview data illustrates that the quality of volunteer activity that residents engage in differs across neighbourhood types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to trace the history of the social indicators or quality-of-life (QOL) research movement up to today, forecast future developments, and pave the way for future growth. Broadly speaking, we tried to review historical antecedents from the point of view of different disciplines, with specialists in each discipline preparing the basic text and co-authors helping to polish the material into a finished product. Briefly, we begin with an overview of the conceptual and philosophical foundations of our field of research. That is followed by a historical overview of the sociological roots of our field. In the third section, the main contributions from the discipline of economics are reviewed. Following that, the fourth section covers a historical overview of the literature on health-related quality of life is provided. Next, the history of QOL research from a marketing perspective is reviewed followed by a history from the perspectives of industrial/organizational psychology and management. Finally, we offer some forecasts for future QOL studies that are intended not only to predict what might happen, but to encourage, stimulate and motivate researchers to undertake new initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several research papers published in the 2005 issue of "Social Indicators Research." "World Culture Report, 2000: Cultural Diversity, Conflict and Pluralism"; "Quantitative Models in Marketing Research," by Philip Hans Franses and Richard Paap; "2002: Australian Economy and Society Welfare," by M. D. R. Evans and Jonathan Kelley.

Social cohesion has emerged as a powerful hybrid concept used by academics and policy analysts. Academics use the concept to underline the social and economic failings of modernity, linking it to the decline of communal values and civic participation. Policy analysts use it to highlight the social and economic inequities caused by globalization. The desired effect of using this concept is often to influence governments to implement policies that will enhance social cohesion by reducing social and economic disparities. Despite its widespread use, however, statistical measures of social cohesion tend to overlook local, non-Western strategies of social inclusion as well as the social impact of non-Western economic systems, such as the mixed economy typical of many Aboriginal communities in North America. In this paper, we develop a model of social cohesion that addresses these omissions through the use of social indicators that measure both the behavior and perceptions of Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic with respect to the social, cultural and economic conditions of Arctic communities. We explain how and why measuring social cohesion is optimized by combining both culturally-specific and non-specific social indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present a sociological analysis of social support related to disaster sociology in general and earthquakes specifically. The analysis is based on field research conducted a year after the 17 August 1999 East Marmara earthquake where 18000 people died; 50000 people injured; 5000 buildings collapsed and 340000 of them damaged; 14513 businesses closed; 150000 people became unemployed; and 129338 forced to live in prefabricated houses. The research primarily aims to understand the support needs by focusing mainly on the following issues about the earthquake survivors: (i) which and what support types and areas are mostly desired by them; (ii) which independent variables are the most effective on their demands; and (iii) from which persons or institutions have they received support and wanted to be supported by. Marginal development of the civil society; high degree of expectations of almost everything from the state; psychological factors being less influential compared with West and education being the primary influential factor are some of the significant results of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]