Sg. Jacob et Fk. Willits, OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE INDICATORS OF COMMUNITY EVALUATION - A PENNSYLVANIA ASSESSMENT, Social indicators research, 32(2), 1994, pp. 161-177
The relationships between subjective and objective measures of well-be
ing were assessed using data from a survey of Pennsylvania residents a
nd county-level statistical measures complied from secondary sources.
Following Ross, Bluestone, and Hines (1979), objective social indicato
rs were derived to measure socioeconomic status, family status, health
status, and alienation for Pennsylvania countries. These indices were
only modestly intercorrelated, suggesting that they measured somewhat
different ideas. Subjective well-being was assessed by asking more th
an 3000 individual respondents to a mail survey to rate the quality of
their communities. Responses were dichotomized and logistic regressio
n used to assess the effects of the objective indicators of county wel
l-being to individual community evaluations. The relationships were sm
all, and inconsistent. Implications of the findings are discussed.