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The Metrics of Happiness

The Art and Science of Measuring Personal Happiness and Societal Wellbeing

  • Book
  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. R. Allan Freeze

    1. Surrey, Canada

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  • Provides comprehensive coverage of happiness and wellbeing measurement methods under one cover
  • Uses an easy-to-read anecdotal writing style that will appeal to non-expert readers
  • Includes a host of summary tables that put the most important information in an easily accessible format

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series (SINS, volume 86)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. The Multi-faceted World of Happiness and Wellbeing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. An Introduction to the Concepts and Ideas

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 3-26

    3. The Positive Psychology Movement

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 27-38

    4. The Social Indicators Movement

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 39-59

    5. The Sustainability Movement

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 61-74

    6. Happiness Studies in the Biological and Medical Sciences

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 75-93

  3. Eudaimetrics

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 95-95
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    2. The Assessment of Personal Happiness and Life Satisfaction

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 97-133

    3. The Dimensions of Communal Wellbeing

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 135-151

    4. The Building Blocks of Communal Wellbeing

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 153-184

    5. The Wellbeing of Nations

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 185-237

    6. The Livability of Cities

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 239-270

    7. Satisfaction in the Workplace

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 271-303

  4. Nexus

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 305-305
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    2. Policy, Politics and Happiness

      • R. Allan Freeze
      Pages 307-329

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 331-334
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of how happiness and wellbeing are measured. It presents an accessible summary of the philosophy, methodology, and applicability of the various measurement techniques that have been generated by the leaders of the happiness movement. It traces the history of development of the core ideas, and clarifies the unexpectedly wide range of techniques that are used. The book provides an unbiased assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and differentiates the contributions that have been made by psychologists, economists, environmentalists, and health scientists. It examines applications at a personal scale, in the workplace, at a societal scale, and on the world stage. It does so in an easy-to-read anecdotal writing style that will appeal to a wide range of academic and lay readers who enjoy popularized non-fiction that address matters of social concern.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Surrey, Canada

    R. Allan Freeze

About the author

R. Allan Freeze is now retired. In his earlier career he worked as a research scientist for Environment Canada in Calgary, AB and the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. He joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC and during his career at the UBC, he was Director of the Geological Engineering Program for six years and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for three years. During his academic career Allan Freeze published over 150 research papers. He has received the Horton and Macelwane Awards from the American Geophysical Union, the Meinzer Award from the Geological Society of America, the Hubbert Award from the National Ground Water Association, the Theis Award from the American Institute of Hydrology, and the Farvolden Award from the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Foreign Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He is aformer Editor of the journal Water Resources Research, and a former President of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. He is coauthor, with John Cherry, of the widely used textbook Groundwater. He is also the author of two popular-science books: The Environmental Pendulum: A Quest for the Truth about Toxic Chemicals, Human Health, and Environmental Protection, published by the University of California Press in 2000, and The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America’s Longest-Running Political Melodrama, published by John Wiley and Sons in 2009.

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