Analyzing Happiness Data Basics
Two Camps
Level of Sufficiently & Comparisons
Level of Sufficiently
Level of Sufficiently
Sufficiently Levels also say that if a group of people have a certain score or above, they are happy.
Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index 2010 survey of 7142 people.
Questions for Sufficiently Levels: Who gets to decide what is sufficient? Who gets to decide what a high enough score is?
What about a situation where people report wellbeing but the sustainability of the planet is in decline? People are happy but greenhouse gasses are rising? People report high quality of life but other species are dying off?
Comparing the Data
Comparisons tell us how one are compares to another and gives us a way to understand why.
World Happiness Reports 2012 – present Ranks Nations by Satisfaction with Life
United Kingdom Office of National Statistics Map of Satisfaction with Life
Questions for Comparisons: Should areas compete for being the most happy?
Who chooses what the factors are for analyzing what influences satisfaction with life? What about the factors that are not considered? What about the interdependencies?
The decision about using sufficiency levels or data comparisons is complex.
Data is important, but what you do with the data is more important.
Analyzing Happiness is copyright Happiness Alliance (c) 2021