Quality of lifeSeminars 2012

Department of Geography

Masaryk University

Projekt Inovace výuky geografických studijních oborů CZ 1.07/2.2.00/.15.0222

1st seminar

The organization of seminar

• One lesson a week

• Compulsory attendance:– Missing one lesson without apologise, two

with apologise

• Active participation in lessons (discussion, workshop)

• Giving off homeworks into folder – odevzdavarna before next lesson

1st homework

• Writing of the short essay on the topic of quality of life– What is a definition of quality of life? What does

the quality of life mean for you?

• Preparation of speech on the next lesson– What is an importance of the geography in the

research of quality of life? What (geographical) aspects of quality of life are you interested in? What are the key questions of the research of quality of life for geographers?

2nd seminar

Importance of geography for the research on quality of life

• What is an importance of the geography in the research on quality of life?

• What (geographical) aspects of quality of life are you interested in?

• What are the key questions of the research of quality of life for geographers?

Importance of geography for the research on quality of life

• R. Peet: „Geography is the study of relations between society and the natural environment“

• Geography efforts to understand and interpretate relations between people and their environment

• Quality of life is multidimensional phenomenon – geography is interdisciplinary science

2nd homework

• Imagine that you are a person who lives somewhere in the third world

• Make up your new name, occupation, nationality, religion, social position, marital status, gender…

• Think about your quality of life, what factors influence your quality of life (objective x subjective dimension)

• Prepare the speech about you and your quality of life on the next lesson

3rd seminar

Your new identity

• Presentation, introduction• What is your name, occupation, nationality,

religion, social position, marital status, gender…

• What affects your quality of life the most?• Influences of culture, religion, family

relations...• Are you happy? Are you satisfied with your

life (being)? What is your the meaning of life?

Your quality of life

• Take advices from each other

• Think about how to improve your quality of life

• Imagine that you can change everything

• Would you be happy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJgumT70FSY&feature=related

3rd homework

• Choose one another person and give him advices how he can improve his quality of life or change his mind to think about life better (from your point of view)

• Imagine that everything is possible

• Write these advices on a half page (to odevzdavarna)

4th seminar

Your quality of life

• Perception of your quality of life - what affects your quality of life the most? Your religion, ideology, culture, family, money…?

• Is it good to change someone‘s quality of life? Is it moral?

• Could we measure collective quality of life?

Core attributes of quality of life (individual)

• Basic needs and capabilities (food, water, health, housing, environment, security) – avoidance of pain

• Autonomy of agency• Subjective well-being (from satisfaction, positive

emotions to personal growth, fulfilling of desires)• Flourishing (self-respect, love, deep personal

relations)• Social inclusion, integration?

Core attributes of quality of life (collective)

• Civic integration

• Equality, trust, reciprocity and other-regarding behaviour

• Social integration, tolerance and respect for difference

• Sustainability

• Social cohesion

3 cases of bad quality of life

• „green widow“ – woman who lives in a suburb, she spends a lot of time alone, she is usually bored, she suffers from depression…

• „gipsy man“ – he lives in ghetto, he has a big family, but his brother owes a lot of money and he wants him to help, so now he has problems with a police (he stole something)

• „middle-class woman“ – she is about 50 years old, she has boring job, her children work abroad, she is divorced and now she does not like men, although she has friends, she is not satisfied (she goes shopping with them, but she has nothing to talk with them)

4th homework

• Choose a meta-concept of quality of life (model, construct…) and contextualize your quality of life inside this concept (just prepare a speech)– Liveability, health, well-being, environmental quality,

happiness, satisfaction…

• You can have your identity or you can be someone else

• I recommend you to read and inspire with D. Philip‘s publication Quality of life or I. Andráško‘s presentations

5th seminar

Homework

• Choose a meta-concept of quality of life (model, construct…) and contextualize your quality of life inside this concept (just prepare a speech)– Liveability, health, well-being, environmental

quality, happiness, satisfaction…

• Is it possible to apply one holistic approach to research on quality of life?

Aplication of concepts

• Try to find the most appropriate approach (concept, model) for research on quality of life in different regions through the world (generalize that)

• Subjective x objective dimension• Indicators of objective dimension• Example – Bhutan – concept of happinness

and well-being – GNH indicator

Gross national happiness• Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of

economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution

• Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic

• Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses

• Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients

• Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits

• Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates

• Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts.

Research on objective dimension of quality of life

• Which domains should be included in research on quality of life?

• Are some aspects more important than the others?

• Could domains be measured by indicators?

5th homework

• Define 10 indicators for the most important aspects of quality of life

• Find 10 real indicators which can be measured in SO ORP and which are available on the webpages (czso, mmr, mpsv, chmi…)

• Write the definitions and sources and upload it into odevzdavarna

6th seminar

Indicators and measurements of quality of life

• Main domains of quality of life:– Economic dimension: financial security, economic freedom,

employment, job opportunity…– Material dimension: housing, living condition, liveability…– Environmental dimension: natural environment, pollution,

noise…– Physical health: wellness, health care…– Political dimension: democracy, freedom, independency…– Social dimension: social inclusion, security, stability, trust…– Mental health: satisfaction, self-realization, well-being…

Indicators and measurements of quality of life

• Aim: to find 10 „ideal“ objective indicators which define and express all these dimensions

• Are these indicators really objective?• Can we use them for measuring of quality of life

in different regions?• Case study –regions (SO ORP):

– Prague‘s quarter– Region with bigger city– Peripheral region

6th homework

• Think about these questions:– Which (sub)domains / dimensions of quality of life

are not objectively measurable? Which should be especially included into research on subjective quality of life?

– What is relation between objective and subjective indicators of quality of life (according to you)? What is relation between objective and subjective indicators of quality of life (according to you)? Which indicators are more important and more reflective a reality? Objective or subjective?

7th seminar

Objective x subjective

• Which (sub)domains / dimensions of quality of life are not objectively measurable? Which should be especially included into research on subjective quality of life?

• What is relation between objective and subjective indicators of quality of life (according to you)? Which indicators are more important and more reflective a reality? Objective or subjective?

Combination of quantitative and qualitative approach

• Example: questionnaire

• Which aspects (domains) of quality of life are inquired?

• Which method is prefered? Why?

• What are the results of this research? For who? How could we interpret them?

Methodology of qualitative research

• Questionnaires

• In-depth interviews

• Mental mapping

• Observation

• Etnomethodological methods

• Alternative methods…

How to realize research?

• You have to frame:– Research problem (quality of life?)– Research topic (Quality of life in a region, in some

communities, Domains of quality of life…)– Research question

• Then you have to define:– Goals– Focus groups + focus region– Evaluation, interpretation, for who it is intented– Capacities x constraints (time, collaborators,

money…)– > METHODS

7th homework

• Suggest and write methodical approach to measure subjective dimension of quality of life

• Follow the points (framing problem, question…) and finally suggest appropriate method

• Think about innovativeness, feasibility!

8th seminar

Results of research

• How to interpret the outputs of research? Could we generalise the results?

• Should the geography help people to improve quality of life? Should we participate into this process? How?

• What is the aim of quality of life‘s science? What is the purpose of science (or life)?

What is the best place for living?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_OC322UeqU&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rNGzD5fWAo

8th homework

• Problem area: Cejl– Read articles in various medias about life in Cejl– Go to Cejl and think about their quality of life

-> Prepare research question (unique, original and of course feasible) and goals of research

• Is it really area with the worst quality of life? Why? Or should we investigate in other area?

9th seminar

• Problem area: Cejl

• Is it really area with the worst quality of life? Why? Or should we investigate in other area?

• What is a focus group of research? Gypsies or non-gypsies?

• Which are the most significant problems?

• Which factors cause these problems?

Bad quality of life in Brno?

• Spatial segregation -> social exlusion -> cumulation of social problems (conflicts, unemployment, debts, criminality, drug addiction…)

• Factors of social exclusion?– Spatial factors– Housing, living condition– Unemployment– Education– Culture...

• Which domains of quality of life should we inquire? How?

Problem of social exclusion

• Bad example:– Removal of gypsies into lodging house– No paying, cumulation of problem– No relation with place

x• Good example:

– Community planning– Parcipation of gypsies into process of reconstruction– Relation with place

Problem of housing

Conclusion of etnographical research

Právě primární výzkumné zaměření na lokalitu „Cejl“ vede nejen k opomíjení ostatních lokalit, ale také k opominutí faktu, že stále častěji dochází k přesunu obyvatel mimo tyto lokality, tj. že dochází k migraci v rámci města Brna. Vzhledem k plánovaným i realizovaným urbanistickým proměnám je třeba očekávat rozsáhlé změny v lokalitách a zároveň v charakteru a rozsahu zdejšího sociálního vyloučení a jeho přesouvání do lokalit jiných. Pro další výzkumy se tedy jako stěžejní jeví zaměřit se na přesuny ohnisek sociálního vyloučení a mechanismy, které je umožňují. S tímto faktem souvisí také zaměření výzkumu na samotné NNO a jejich činnost přesahující či kopírující hranice lokality, tj. monitoring toho, do jaké míry jsou tyto organizace připraveny reagovat na urbanistické změny a svou činnost směřovat do jiných částí města.

Source: „Dlouhodobý monitoring situace romských komunit v České republice: moravské lokality“ (2008)

• Write down text that includes:– Review of your research question– Reformulation of goals of your research– Redefinition of problem localities– Methodical approaches

9th homework

10th seminar

Specific research – problem areas of living

– Review of your research question– Reformulation of goals of your research– Redefinition of problem localities– Methodical approaches

Real research

• Realization?

• Time, space?

• Data?

• Talking, observation?

• Evaluation, interpretation?

Thank you for your attention and feedback!