Quality of Life

The term quality of life refers to the description and evaluation of the nature or conditions of life. The motivation for measuring quality of life began as part of the Social Indicators Movement of the '60s. A number of government programs (educational, social, and environmental) were initiated which needed indicators to measure their success or failure on societies well-being.

There are two distinct classes of quality of life measurement: objective and subjective measurement. The information for objective measures generally come from large organizations or administrative records. These indicators are based on counts and ratings and can be difficult in evaluating a general, overall measurement.

Subjective measurements of well-being attempt to identify what is most important in peoples lives. These measures are more personal in scope since they are based on individuals' own reports of their well-being.(Eblen and Eblen, 1994, p. 586)

Compiled by

Joshua Bills jdb5@cec.wustl.edu Last updated 10/26/94.