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Call for papers

  • Deadline: 2012, August 31. “International Wellbeing Index”

    Guest editor: Graciela Tonon, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Universidad de Palermo, Argentina

    Journal of Social Research & Policy invites original paper submissions for a special issue on “International Wellbeing Index”, to bring together papers exploring the application of this instrument in different regions of the world and with different populations.

    The study of quality of life refers to the material (social welfare) and psychosocial (wellbeing) environments. Quality of life has been defined as a concept that implies objective and subjective dimension. The use of domains in the study of quality of life allows a more precise measurement than could have been reached through simple questions.

    WBI has two scales: the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) and the National Wellbeing Index (NWI), scaled from 0 to 10. PWI contains eight items of satisfaction, each one corresponding to a quality of life domain: standard of living, health, achievement in life, relationships, safety, community-connectedness, future safety, and spirituality/religion. These eight domains are theoretically embedded, as representing the first level deconstruction of the global question: ‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?’ The NWI reflects nearly the same domains in the national context.

    The International Wellbeing Group currently involves researchers from 49 countries who already had or intend to trial the Index in his/her own country. But the Index didn´t remain unchanged over time: this project will undergo controlled evolution as theory and empirical data are brought to bear on its composition. To this end there is an active e-forum that discusses the composition of the Index as data are progressively collected and analyzed (www.deakin.edu.au/research/acqol/iwbg/).

    In this special issue we encourage researchers that are using or had used the International Wellbeing Index in different countries and regions of the world to report data and/or methodological analyses their papers on issues such as (but not limited to):
    • validity, reliability and factorial structure of PWI and NWI 
    • cognitive and affective dimensions of subjective wellbeing 
    • psychological and socio-demographical correlates of wellbeing 
    • wellbeing in regional and national contexts 
    • inter-country comparisons of wellbeing 
    • wellbeing in different groups (children, adolescents, young people, adults, elders, women, gifted students, people with intellectual disabilities, single mothers, unemployed, original cultural groups, etc.) 
    • longitudinal comparisons of well-being 
    • public policy implications of wellbeing scores 

    This will allow our readers to know the results of the use of the WBI in particular contexts and situations. 

    All submissions will be peer reviewed. For guidelines on manuscript preparation and submission, please visit the journal website.

    Please address any inquiries to Graciela Tonon: gracielatonon@hotmail.com

    SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31 August 2012
    Posted Feb 19, 2012 9:33 AM by Sergiu Baltatescu
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About the Journal

Welfare states have made well-being one of the main focuses of public policies. Social policies entail, however, complicated, and sometimes almost insurmountable, issues of prioritization, measurement, problem evaluation or strategic and technical decision making concerning aim-setting or finding the most adequate means to ends. Given the pressures to effectiveness it is no wonder that the last several decades have witnessed the imposition of research-based social policies as standard as well as the development of policy-oriented research methodologies. Legitimate social policies are, in this context, more and more dependent on the accurate use of diagnostic methods, of sophisticated program evaluation approaches, of benchmarking and so on. Inspired by this acute interest, our journal aims to host primarily articles based on policy research and methodological approaches of policy topics. Our journal is open to sociologically informed contributions from anthropologists, psychologists, statisticians, economists, historians and political scientists. General theoretical papers are also welcomed if do not deviate from the interests stated above. The editors also welcome reviews of books that are relevant to the topics covered in the journal.


Volume 2, Issue 2 December 2011


Migration and Happiness
Editor: David Bartram, University of Leicester (UK)

David Bartram
Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Migration and Happiness’

Carol Graham & Julie Markowitz
Aspirations and Happiness of Potential Latin American Immigrants

Félix Neto & Joana Neto
Satisfaction with Life among Adolescents from
Returned Portuguese Immigrant Families 

Elizabeth Vaquera & Elizabeth Aranda
The Multiple Dimensions of Transnationalism: Examining their Relevance to Immigrants’ Subjective Well-Being 

Silvia Maja Melzer
Does Migration Make You Happy? The Influence of Migration on Subjective Well-Being

Policy Studies

Debby Gerritsen & Kaj van Zenderen
New Governance: Pitfalls of Activation Policies for Young Migrant Dropouts in the Netherlands 

Jason L. Powell & Rebecca Steel
Policy, Governance and Governmentality: Conceptual and Research Reflections on Ageing in England 

Book Reviews

Claudia Paraschivescu
Philip Martin, Importing Poverty? Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural America, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2009, 242 p. 

Andrea Petres
Brigitta Balogh, Sergiu Bălţătescu, Krisztina Bernáth, Éva Biró-Kaszás & Adrian Hatos (eds.)
European, National and Regional Identity. Proceedings of the International Conference
“European, National and Regional Identity” organized in Oradea, 24-26 March 2011 in the
frame of the research project HURO/0801/180 (ENRI), University of Oradea Publishing House, 2011, 859 p. 

Raluca Buhaş
Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber (Ed.), The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research, Oxford University Press, 2011, 688 p. 

ISSN (print) 2067-2640
ISSN (electronic) 2068-9861

Recent content

  • Social Policy and Governance: Conceptual Reflections on Ageing in England Jason L. Powell1 & Rebecca Steel2Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 111-119Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Abstract ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:10 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • New Governance: Pitfalls of Activation Policies for Young Migrant Dropouts in the Netherlands Debby Gerritsen1 & Kaj van Zenderen2Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 93-109Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Abstract ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:11 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Migration and Happiness’ David Bartram1Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 5-8Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Download article: PDFcitation: RIS ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:15 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Does Migration Make You Happy? The Influence of Migration on Subjective Well-Being Silvia Maja Melzer1Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 73-92Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Abstract: In the field ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:17 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • The Multiple Dimensions of Transnationalism: Examining their Relevance to Immigrants’ Subjective Well-Being Elizabeth Vaquera1 & Elizabeth Aranda2Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 47-72Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Abstract: Using ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:18 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Satisfaction with Life among Adolescents from Returned Portuguese Immigrant Families Félix Neto1 & Joana Neto2Journal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 27-46Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Abstract: A ...
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:19 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber (Ed.), The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research, Oxford University Press, 2011, 688 p. (Book Review) Raluca BuhaşJournal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 125-126Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Download article: PDFcitation: RIS
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:22 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Philip Martin, Importing Poverty? Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural America, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2009, 242 p. (Book Review) Claudia ParaschivescuJournal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 121-122Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Download article: PDFcitation: RIS
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:23 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
  • Brigitta Balogh, Sergiu Bălţătescu, Krisztina Bernáth, Éva Biró-Kaszás & Adrian Hatos (eds.) European, National and Regional Identity. Proceedings of the International Conference “European, National and Regional Identity” organized in Oradea, 24-26 March 2011 in the frame of the research project HURO/0801/180 (ENRI), University of Oradea Publishing House, 2011, 859 p. Andrea PetresJournal of Social Research & PolicyVolume: 2, Issue: 2, pp. 123-124Date: December 2011ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)Download article: PDFcitation: RIS
    Posted Jan 7, 2012 1:26 PM by Sergiu Baltatescu
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