Abstract
AbstractThe ‘new science of happiness’ was not really discovered, but was a coming together of people, publications, projects, politicians, agencies and disciplines around the turn of the twenty-first century. This moment foregrounded the issue of how people feel (subjective well-being), changing how this is understood and measured, driving the ‘second wave’ of well-being. This chapter reviews these interlinked histories to contextualise the ‘new’ well-being data. It presents definitions, theories and methods to help understand what went on behind the scenes and under the bonnet of these data practices. We look at the establishment of the UK’s subjective well-being measures and address the question of what subjective well-being can do that differs from previous well-being measures.
Highlights
IntroductionTo understand how to best go about measuring and modelling to establish this, and evaluate policy decisions of the past, in order to make better ones in future
We are going to look at the rise of happiness economics, for two main reasons: (1) it is acknowledged as one of the key drivers of the second wave of well-being, and (2) it positioned itself as a new science of happiness, advocating new measures, different data and analyses
There have been many attempts to classify the different ways in which subjective well-being can be measured for policy purposes (Kahneman and Riis 2005; Dolan et al 2011a, b; Waldron 2010)
Summary
To understand how to best go about measuring and modelling to establish this, and evaluate policy decisions of the past, in order to make better ones in future This idea is based on the Greatest Happiness principle (Bentham 1996 [1789]), which you may recall from Chap. The introduction argued that well-being data are used to (1) track the health and wealth of society using social statistics and (2) evaluate the success and progress of social projects and policies. How all these interventions come together are key to understanding how well-being data work. Lord Richard Layard was called the UK’s ‘Happiness Tsar’ and his seminal book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science (Layard 2006) consolidates aspects of what Bache and Reardon call the second wave of
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
