A0877
Title: Combining quantitative and qualitative assessments in the multidimensional well-being measurement
Authors: Jose Luis Garcia-Lapresta - Universidad de Valladolid (Spain) [presenting]
Abstract: A proposal on how to combine quantitative and qualitative assessments in the multidimensional well-being measurement is provided. To this end, some normalization procedures are established in such a way that every assessment is translated into a unit interval. These normalizations allow aggregating assessments issued on various scales, both quantitative and qualitative, in the different dimensions in which the well-being of the citizens of a society is evaluated. In the case of ordered qualitative scales, subjective perceptions of the psychological closeness between the terms of the scales are considered using ordinal proximity measures, as well as functions that associate a numerical value to the terms of the scales based on the mentioned subjective perceptions. Once all the assessments have been normalized into the unit interval, it is possible to aggregate them following "the row-first two-stage aggregation" procedure: first aggregating across dimensions for each individual and then aggregating across individuals. Considering individual's overall achievement scores, it is possible to obtain a social well-being index.
