The various forms of social solidarity are empirically uncharted, especially in relation to social harmony. With respect to resource exchange theory, inclusive solidarity or intergroup acceptance is more conducive to social harmony than mechanical, organic, distributive, and dialogic forms of solidarity. The theoretical prediction holds in the…

Conceptions of well-being are cognitive representations of the nature and experience of well-being. These conceptions can be described generally by the degree to which hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions are emphasized as important aspects of the experience of well-being. In two studies, the prediction that eudaimonic dimensions of individual…

The current paper constructs a progress measurement appropriate for measuring multiple and different dimensions of progress. The paper is not meant to be a detailed discussion of the framework but rather a demonstrated application of the measure. The constructed resource-infrastructure-environment progress measure employs a non-monetary evaluation…

Most of the theoretically based QOL indicators projects can be classified in terms of six major theoretical concepts: (a) socio-economic development (b) personal utility, (c) just society, (d) human development, (e) sustainability, and (f) functioning. I explain the core aspects of these six theoretical paradigms and show how they help guide QOL…

A university can decide to react to the ebb and flow of worldwide economies or set out to better secure its future by controlling its own destiny and helping make itself more secure as it contributes to learners, faculty, and staff while also adding value to external stakeholders. Following a Mega focus on adding value to society, universities can…

The concept of social capital has become very popular but its definition and measurement are still rather unclear. We frame our study in one of its components, social participation. In this article we develop an optimal measure for social participation based on the questions asked in the first round of the European Social Survey. Our analyses…

Unlike most studies on social cohesion, this study explores the concept as a real-life macro-level phenomenon. It assesses to what extent the conceptions of social cohesion suggested by several macro-level approaches represent coherent empirically observable forms of social cohesion. Additionally it discusses two perspectives on social…

Sleep duration has figured into claims of two trends promoted recently as dysfunctional in the mass media. One is the observation that the population at large is sleeping less than before. The second is that the annual change from Standard Time to Daylight Savings (or summer) Time causes adverse effects, largely through the loss of an hour's…

This technical report describes the 24 derived variables developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data. The variables fall into the categories education, employment and social, and help to simplify the complexity of the LSAY data by providing useful indicators for analysis. To help LSAY data users understand and…

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is a nationally representative, internationally comparable household survey implemented to examine protective and risk factors of child development in developing countries around the world. This introduction describes the conceptual framework, nature of the MICS3, and general analytic plan of articles…

Subjective well-being is a broad, multifaceted construct comprising general satisfaction with life, satisfaction with life domains (health, family, people, free time, self, housing, work, and finances), positive affect, and negative affect. Drawing on representative data from middle-aged adults (N = 738), the authors used three different…

Using an "ecological regional analysis" methodology for defining types of communities and their associated mortality rates, this study of Georgia's 159 counties finds that the suburban and town centered counties have low mortality while the city-centered type predicts low mortality for the whites. The military-centered counties do not…

This paper investigates the association between institutional quality and generalized trust. Despite the importance of the topic, little quantitative empirical evidence exists to support either unidirectional or bidirectional causality for the reason that cross-sectional studies rarely model the reciprocal relationship between institutional…

To improve environmental hygiene in public housing estates in Hong Kong, the Housing Department launched the Marking Scheme for Tenancy Enforcement in Public Housing Estates in 2003. The marking scheme operates as a penalty-point system where sitting tenants will be expelled from their public housing units if they receive penalty points up to a…

The paper examines job satisfaction among fishers in a tsunami-impacted area on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Following the tsunami, many predicted that fishers would be reluctant to resume their fishing activities. Observations in the fishing communities, however, indicated that as soon as fishers obtained replacements for equipment damaged by…