National Well-being

Dear All

I just wondered if anyone else had seen this report and had any views on its relevance to measuring national wellbeing?  The report is here:

http://www.britishfuture.org/publication/state-of-the-nation-2013/

It majors on immigration, integration and identity issues, which is the focus of British Future.  This is a non-partisan think tank that is seeking "workable solutions to make Britain the country we want to live in."

The title of their report promises much.  There are certainly some eye-catching elements, such as the survey question about whether or not Britain is heading in the right direction - must tell us something about the progress we as a country are making?  (The actual question was "Would you say things in Britain are heading in the right direction or off on the wrong track?")

I'm also always interested in all descriptions of the state of the nation, how they select material to be included, and how they differ from what we might consider a more robust measurement of national wellbeing.

Look forward to seeing any responses to this.

Best wishes for 2013

Paul

Paul

Interesting report.  I've forwarded the link to the Quantitaive Methods Teaching forum, saying the following:

This report from British Future is the sort of thing that could be useful as a starting point for introducing social science students to quantitative methods, by exploring issues such as choice of variables, how they are measured, how they are presented and how they are interpreted.  This kind of material is not only much more accessible to such students than sterile stats courses, but can act as a gateway to understanding, and eventual acquisition, of quantitative methods, especially if the raw data and documentation are made available.

As a survey researcher I have some reservations about the methodology and the questionnaire wording used by Ipsos/Mori.  The most telling item is the high proportion of respondents (61%)  stating they would prefer to be a citizen of Britatin than anywhere else (Q8, page 28).  Puts all the whingeing into perspective.  I can't see the point of asking people what makes people proud of being British (Q9, page 28) without first asking them if they are!  I would have preferred questions such as:

Q1  Are you British?                                         Yes [Ask a]
                                                                   No   [Skip to Q2]
    a    [If Yes] Are you proud to be British?      Yes [Ask b]
                                                                     No   [Ask c]
    b    [If Yes] What makes you say that? 
    
    c    [If No] What makes you say that?

Q2  Are you happy living in Britain, or would you rather live in another country?       Britain       [Ask a]
                                                                                                                                    Elsewhere [Ask b]
    a    [If Britain] What makes you say that? 
    
    b    [If Elsewhere]   Which country is that?  
                               
                                   What makes you say that?


It would be interesting to see which if any if items in Q9 appear in respnse to such an open-ended question.







Show Original Message -------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 14-01-2013 07:42
From: Paul Allin
Subject: British Future's State of the Nation Report

Dear All

I just wondered if anyone else had seen this report and had any views on its relevance to measuring national wellbeing?  The report is here:

http://www.britishfuture.org/publication/state-of-the-nation-2013/

It majors on immigration, integration and identity issues, which is the focus of British Future.  This is a non-partisan think tank that is seeking "workable solutions to make Britain the country we want to live in."

The title of their report promises much.  There are certainly some eye-catching elements, such as the survey question about whether or not Britain is heading in the right direction - must tell us something about the progress we as a country are making?  (The actual question was "Would you say things in Britain are heading in the right direction or off on the wrong track?")

I'm also always interested in all descriptions of the state of the nation, how they select material to be included, and how they differ from what we might consider a more robust measurement of national wellbeing.

Look forward to seeing any responses to this.

Best wishes for 2013

Paul