Physical Quality Of Life Index Research Articles

Exploring Life Quality Index via Education Level and Population Density

The subjective nature of quality of life, makes it complex to measure the quality of life. Among them, finding a few key criteria that affect the quality of life in cities will be the main purpose. In this study, a linear regression model was used to predict the numerical relationship between population density, bachelor's degree rate and education Gini index, and further Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were selected to validate and adjust the model, and finally F-test was used to compare the initial model with the adjusted model. In addition, the random forest algorithm was used to classify the quality of life of each city by population density as well as education level to identify the common characteristics of cities with high physical quality of life index. Three classification decision trees created using different combinations of population density, bachelor's degree rate and education Gini index were used, followed by additional multiple decision trees generated by the random forest algorithm. The final results of the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) curves and confusion matrix of the two sets of decision trees were observed and evaluated to stratify the cities. The experimental results show that population density has a negative effect on quality of life, while bachelor's degree rate has a positive effect. Although the three indicators of population density, bachelor's degree rate and education Gini index cannot effectively distinguish the four levels, they can effectively distinguish which cities are not the first level. it shows that cities that achieve high education level and low population density are not necessarily the cities with the highest quality of life, but those that do not are definitely not.

Sleep spindles changes in people with previous COVID-19 infection.

Stage 2 sleep spindles are considered useful biomarkers for the integrity of the central nervous system and for cognitive and memory skills. We investigated sleep spindles patterns in subjects after 12 months of their hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Padova Teaching Hospital due to COVID-19 between March and November 2020. Before the nap, participants (13 hospitalized in ICU - ICU; 9 hospitalized who received noninvasive ventilation - nonlCU; 9 age and sex-matched healthy controls - CTRL, i.e., not infected by COVID-19) underwent a cognitive and psychological as-sessment. During the nap, high-density electroencephalography (EEG) recordings were acquired. Slow (i.e., [9]-[12] Hz) and fast (i.e.,]12-16] Hz) spindles were automatically detected. Spindle density and spindle source reconstruction in brain grey matter were extracted. The psychological assessment revealed a statistical difference comparing CTRL and nonlCU in Beck Depression Inventory score and in the Physical Quality of Life index (pvalue = 0.03). The cognitive assessment revealed a trend of worsening results in executive functions in COVID-19 survivors. Slow spindle density significantly decreased comparing CTRL to COVID-19 survivors (pvalue= 0.001). There were statistically significant differences in EEG source-waveforms fast spindle amplitude onset among the three groups, mainly between CTRL and nonlCU. Clinical Relevance- Our results suggest that nonlCU were more susceptible to the hospitalization experience than ICU participants with a slight effect on cognitive tests. This impacted the spindle generation revealing a decreased density of slow spindles and affecting the generators of fast spindles in COVID-19 survivors especially in nonlCU.

High-density EEG sleep correlates of cognitive and affective impairment at 12-month follow-up after COVID-19

ObjectiveTo disentangle the pathophysiology of cognitive/affective impairment in Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), we studied long-term cognitive and affective sequelae and sleep high-density electroencephalography (EEG) at 12-month follow-up in people with a previous hospital admission for acute COVID-19. MethodsPeople discharged from an intensive care unit (ICU) and a sub-intensive ward (nonICU) between March and May 2020 were contacted between March and June 2021. Participants underwent cognitive, psychological, and sleep assessment. High-density EEG recording was acquired during a nap. Slow and fast spindles density/amplitude/frequency and source reconstruction in brain gray matter were extracted. The relationship between psychological and cognitive findings was explored with Pearson correlation. ResultsWe enrolled 33 participants ( 17 nonICU) and 12 controls. We observed a lower Physical Quality of Life index, higher post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) score, and a worse executive function performance in nonICU participants. Higher PTSD and Beck Depression Inventory scores correlated with lower executive performance. The same group showed a reorganization of spindle cortical generators. ConclusionsOur results show executive and psycho-affective deficits and spindle alterations in COVID-19 survivors – especially in nonICU participants – after 12 months from discharge. SignificanceThese findings may be suggestive of a crucial contribution of stress experienced during hospital admission on long-term cognitive functioning.

An Assessment Study of Some Asian Countries on the Basis of Physical Quality of Life Indicators

The physical quality-of-life index (PQLI) is an attempt to measure the quality of life or well-being of a country. The value is a single number derived from basic literacy rate, infant mortality, and life expectancy at age one. Quality of life is an umbrella concept that refers to all aspects of a person's life, including physical health; psychological well-being; social well-being; financial well-being; some approaches to quality of life emphasizes the social and psychological aspects of life, and contrast quality of life with quality of care. The growing attention to quality of life and the desire to minimize the negative effects of disease and health care on this quality reflects the highest of public health aspirations. Adult literacy has also risen from 46-70%. Developing world today is healthier, better fed and batter educated. But program has been far from even. The no. of people living in poverty continues to grow. There is almost no improvement IMR &. in education. In poor countries South Asia's IMR today are about the lame in early 1970. So I think there exist some relation between socioeconomic conditions &. health status. In a country, WHO has. listed these two indicators 1. Health Indicators and 2. Physical Quality of Life Indicator. Among those here I want to consider only the following as social indicators:Y: 1. IMR 2. Adult illiteracy & X: 1. Public exp. on education. % GNP 2. Public expo on health % GDP. I have taken a linear combination of expenditure on education % GNP (Y1) & expenditure on health % GDP (Y2) as U to represent a economic ( welfare ) condition of a country against this I have taken a linear combination of IMR per 1000 ( X1) and adult illiteracy % rate ( X2) as V to represent PQL of a country. After using Canonical correlation I have reached a conclusion that the increase of expenditure on health and education purpose implies decrease of IMR & illiteracy. In 1st Quadrant contains only Saudi Arabia whose expenditure on health and education is high but illiteracy rate also high (exceptional one). And 2nd Quadrant contains those countries whose expenditure on health and education is high illiteracy rate and IMR is low. The 4th Quadrant contains those countries whose expenditure is lower and illiteracy rate is higher comparatively. Here Iraq Pakisthan , Bangaledesh and Nepal lie. There is no country in 3rd quadrant whose expenditure is less and illiteracy is also low. After concrete analysis and from the graph we can rank the 14 Asian Countries according to their better Physical Quality of Life as follows:1. Japan 2. Korea Republic 3. Mongolia 4. Malayasia 5. Srilanka 6. Viatnam 7. China 8. Iran 9. India 10. Iraq 11. Pakisthan 12. Bangaladesh 13. Nepal 14. Saudi Arabia

Whither growth? International development, social indicators, and the politics of measurement, 1920s–1970s

AbstractFew concepts in the history of twentieth-century history proved as important as economic growth. Scholars such as Charles Maier, Robert Collins, and Timothy Mitchell have analysed how the notion that an entity called ‘the economy’ (defined by metrics such as Gross National Product, or GNP) could be made to grow came to define economic thought and policy worldwide. Yet there has been far less attention paid to the fact that neither growth nor GNP went without challenge during their emergence and global diffusion. This article focuses on one set of growth critics: those who advocated for ‘social indicators’ in international development policy during the 1960s and 1970s. It advances three overlapping arguments: that advocates for social indicators harkened back to early twentieth-century transnational efforts to make workers’ ‘standard of living’ the primary statistical framework for policy-makers; that, while supporters of social indicators expressed frustration with technocratic governance, their reform efforts nevertheless represented technocratic critiques of modernity; and finally, that one of the major reform efforts, Morris David Morris’s advocacy on behalf of the ‘Physical Quality of Life Index’ (PQLI), as an alternative measure of national wellbeing, ultimately struggled to challenge the GNP growth paradigm, and yet proved influential in spawning subsequent research into new measures and approaches to development.

Height, Literacy and Survival: A Composite Index of Wellbeing Based on Data from Military Recruitment (1880–1980)

Starting from the same assumptions used for building the Physical Quality of Life Index and the Human Development Index and trying to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the GDP per capita series estimated for Spain before 1955, this article aims to show how an alternative composite index of standard of living can be elaborated through military recruitment sources. More specifically, the research that we propose here, which is based on the existing information for thirty towns and villages in Extremadura, endeavors to combine in one dynamic annual indicator three variables: average height, survival, and literacy rate. The first one comes from the anthropometric information provided by the Records of Classification and Declaration of Soldiers. The second one, calculated as the proportion of recruits who were still alive at the legal age of enlistment to the total born in each generation, derives from the individualized information that, in order to proceed with the calls necessary for the preparation of the aforementioned records, was collected annually by the local or county civil registers and/or the parishes. Finally, the index incorporates an educational variable: the proportion of recruits who were able to read and write over the total ones who attended each call. With the combination of these three variables and following the path of research by Costa, Steckel, Floud, Harris and Crafts, we are able to discern the historical evolution of well-being in the poorest region of Spain and one of the least developed regions of Europe.

TINJAUAN BERBAGAI INDIKATOR SOSIAL*

This article delineates various indices: (a)The Physical Quality of Life Index(PQli) and the Subjective Composite Index used by the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics for making comparisons with the 27 provinces of Indonesia; (b) a revised version of PQLI by adding fertility as a new component developed by Sajogyo and Abustam; (c) the Non-Physical Quality Index, used by the office of the Minister of Population and Environment, and (d) the Human Development Index (HDI), contained in the UNDP: Human Development Report, 1991 and 1992

Evaluation of Health in Context of Life Quality Studying

AbstractIntroduction: The development and application on novel concepts that integrally describe physical, psychological, emotional, social health, environmental factors, life values and personal skills was analyzed in the article.The aim of the article was to analyze the latest methodological approaches of life quality and health assessment.Results: The article deals with the peculiarities of life quality definition formation and role of its subjective and objective components. The life quality models that based on objective and subjective indicators, related to the health and social well-being was analyzed. The health indicators that provide critical information about population health and prevention programs were characterized and divided into 4 groups - medical and demographic, behavioral, administrative, related to physical and social environment. The problem of research methods development that would useful for comparing the health related life quality in different countries, and creation of normative databases for various regions and determination life-style long-term impact on physical and mental health was studied. The peculiarities of quantitative evaluation in international methods (Index of Social Health, Physical Quality of Life Index, Human Developed Index, Health related Quality of Life Index, World Health Organization Quality of Life index, Happiness adjusted life-years) were analyzed.Conclusions: For a quantitative evaluation of the population life quality significant is selection of single definition, model with structural parts (domains) that include psycho-physical and physical health of people, their life values (micro level) and the socio-economic development of the society (macro level).

Interdependence of world markets: Economic growth and social well-being

This paper considers the socio-economic world context in 2009 and is aimed at achieving two goals: on one hand, to carry out an economic quantitative analysis of interdependence of the world markets; on the other hand, to investigate the relationship between economic growth and social well-being. In order to reach the first aim, we use, as a starting point, Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory (1982) presenting a hierarchical but unfixed division of the world in three levels ( core, semi-periphery and periphery ); then we consider a group of 124 countries and assign each of these country to one of the three areas. The assignment has been realized by looking at the total score achieved by each country, with the addition of the partial scores based on the position occupied in three different rankings which consider three distinct economic indicators each of them has been divided by the population size (real GDP, exports and debt-external). Therefore we proceed by reaching our second goal concerning the examination of the nature of the relationship existing between the level of each country’s participation in the world economy and its social well-being. We have decided to calculate the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) in order to show the level of well-being gained by each country considered. The PQLI was created by M. D. Morris (1979) to satisfy the need of constructing new indexes to overcome the limitations of economic parameters for measuring human development, which were highlighted by the social indicators movement of the 1960s and by very important works produced by Amartya Sen (1985, 1987, 1999). The construction of PQLI for each country has given us the possibility of comparing the results of the first part of our work with those coming from the second part, in order to focus on the relationship between economic growth and well-being. The results obtained have further been underlined by using a selected group of 9 countries reflecting the main trends which characterize the entire group of countries. In conclusion, the findings of this study reveal that the relationship between a high level of economic growth and an advanced degree of social well-being is not necessarily a cause/effect relationship because it may not occur in consequence of historical, cultural, social and/or political contingencies.

Prospective, randomized, two-arm controlled study to evaluate two interventions to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Spain

Proper adherence is essential to obtain the desired results of antiretroviral therapy; thus, new interventional strategies for this purpose must be sought. Comparison of 2 interventions, one conducted by a health professional and the other by a peer (patient on antiretroviral therapy), to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy. In 2003, a randomized, concurrent, follow-up study was conducted at 3 hospitals. Patients were recruited consecutively at infectious disease visits scheduled to monitor their disease from May to September 2003. A sealed envelope was used to assign patients to each intervention group. A previous phase was conducted to unify data collection, and the intervention consisted of 4 visits at weeks 0, 8, 16, and 24. Among the 240 patients included, 198 completed follow-up, and in 11 of these, treatment was interrupted at the doctor's decision. At baseline, 46.8% were classified as adherent. Multilevel analysis showed that as the visits progressed, the probability of adhering to treatment increased (OR 1.23; P<.01). Although differences were not significant, the group treated by a peer showed better results than the group treated by a health professional (OR 1.60; P=0.25). A lower probability of antiretroviral adherence was observed in patients receiving a drug combination including a protease inhibitor (OR 0.27; P<0.01) and in those with psychological distress (OR 0.44; P=0.03). Patients with a higher score on the physical quality of life index (OR 1.05; P<0.01) presented a higher probability of adherence. The psychoeducational intervention studied is viable and effective for improving antiretroviral adherence. When the intervention is conducted by a peer the results are at least as good as those obtained by a health professional, and this implies cost-saving for the health system.

Education, Human Development and Quality of Life: Measurement Issues and Implications for India

This paper analyses and compares the measurement of indicators and variables in the construction of education index in Human Development Index (HDI) at the global, national and 18 sub-national human development reports in India since 1990. The results show non-comparability of measurement of the education indicators and variables. This implies that vertical and horizontal comparability of HDI may not be plausible for India. Implications of these analyses are highlighted for measurement of quality of life indices with special reference to physical quality of life index. Policy lessons are derived for future measurement of education index for India in particular, and other developing countries in general.

Measuring the well-being across countries

Dissatisfied with any measure of income as a sufficient indicator of well-being, emphasis has shifted to identification of alternative measures. However, identifying robust Quality of Life (QOL) indicators, or providing a coherent and robust definition of the concept, remains problematic. Over the years, alternative measures of well-being have been suggested. Probably the best-known composite indices of well-being are the Human Development Index and Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). These alternative measures are recognized as improvements in terms of representing various dimensions of QOL, but they still suffer from various limitations. Using information on eight indicators of QOL for 43 developing countries of the world, in this article I show that various measures of well-being are highly sensitive to the domains of QOL that are considered in the construction of comparative indices, and also sensitive to how measurable inputs into the well-being are aggregated and weighted to arrive at composite measures of QOL. I find results that support the result obtained by Dasgupta and Weale (1992) that measures of health are closest to overall measure of QOL. Thus, if we had to choose a single domain of aggregate well-being, the domain of health would seem to be the most appropriate.

MEASURING NON-ECONOMIC WELL-BEING ACHIEVEMENT

It is common to treat human well-being as a multidimensional concept, enveloping diverse, separable or behaviourally distinct components, domains or dimensions (Finnis 1980; Nussbaum 1988; Sen 1990, 1993; UNDP 1990–2003; Doyal and Gough 1993; Galtung 1994; Cummins 1996; Qizilbash 1996; Stewart 1996; Narayan 2000; Alkire 2002, among many other studies).1 It is in particular thought to be a much richer or vital concept than economic well-being: much of the literature is justifiably emphatic about this point. Accordingly, there is a long history of efforts both to refocus attention away from the established, although invariably far less than perfect, monetary measures of national economic well-being achievement and to capture better non-economic well-being achievement. A plethora of indicators of national well-being achievement has been proposed for these purposes. Indicators of health and educational status are most widely-used in inter-country ordinal and cardinal assessments of national well-being achievement, and are now available for diverse samples of 160 or more countries (see UNDP 2003). Multidimensional indicators are also available for similar samples, based either solely or predominantly on these indicators, and include the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) and the very well-known Human Development Index (HDI).

The Determinants of Aid Allocation by Regional Multilateral Development Banks and United Nations Agencies

This paper examines which factors can explain the allocation of aid by four regional development banks as well as three United Nations agencies. The results suggest the following: most donors examined also exhibit a bias apparent in bilateral aid allocation in favor of less populous countries. Some of them also share another bias of bilateral donors who give more aid to their former colonies. However, the three United Nations agencies contravene a third bias of bilateral aid allocation and provide more aid to countries geographically more distant from the centers of the Western world. While the regional development banks with the possible exception of the Inter-American one focus exclusively on economic need as measured by per capita income, the three United Nations agencies also take into account human development need in their aid allocation as measured by the Physical Quality of Life Index. Some tentative evidence is found that respect for political freedom is rewarded with higher aid receipts at the aggregate multilateral level and by the Inter-American Development Bank as well as perhaps, in a few estimations, two of the three United Nations agencies. Neither respect for personal integrity rights nor low levels of perceived corruption play any role in the allocation of aid by the donors looked at. In general, higher military expenditures and arms imports are not associated with higher aid receipts, with a few notable exceptions.

The Gender Sensitivity of Well‐being Indicators

This article assesses the gender sensitivity of indicators of health, nutrition, education, and composite indices which are relevant to developing countries, using the analytical framework of ‘functionings’. It finds that a disaggregated under‐10 female–male ratio (0–4 years and 5–9 years) appears to be a suitable indicator for health. Difficulties with data collection and interpretation reduce the reliability of indicators of morbidity and nutrition intake. Nutrition outcome indicators like anthropometric measures are potentially useful, if genetic differences between population groups as well as between males and females are controlled for. In assessing gender gaps in education, enrolment and drop‐out ratios are more useful than adult literacy or mean years of schooling, but micro‐level research is required to decide which of these two is better. Composite indices like the Physical Quality of Life Index and Gender‐related Development Index are potentially useful, given some alterations to increase their relevance to developing countries.

Confirming, Infirming, and "Falsifying" Theories of Human Rights: Reflections on Smith, Bolyard, and Ippolito Through the Lens of Lakatos

Confirming, Infirming, and “Falsifying” Theories of Human Rights: Reflections on Smith, Bolyard, and Ippolito Through the Lens of Lakatos William H. Meyer (bio) Some scholars of human rights have turned their attention to a relatively new issue. A limited number of studies have sought to establish the causal impact of multinational corporations (MNCs) on human rights in the third world. 1 These studies, conducted at several different levels of analysis, have produced some interesting (but not always consistent) results. 2 My own work in this area first appeared in the Human Rights Quarterly (HRQ) in May of 1996. 3 A follow-up study by Jackie Smith, Melissa Bolyard, and Anna Ippolito (Smith et al.) appears in this issue of HRQ. 4 My work tended [End Page 220] to support theoretical claims that MNCs have an overall beneficial impact on both first- and second-generation human rights at the international level. 5 The study by Smith et al., produced results to the contrary. Smith’s research argues that MNCs have a negative effect on rights in the developing world. 6 The editors of HRQ have invited my response to Smith’s article. While I do not dispute the validity of Smith’s conclusions, I stand by the results of my own research. In order to understand how both studies provide useful additions to our knowledge of the causes of human rights violations, this article will discuss them (along with my subsequent research) within the larger context of theory testing and theory building in the social sciences. With a proper grasp of the nature of human rights theory, one can easily understand how such conflicting results are not unusual. Indeed, they are to be expected. Furthermore, the existence of inconsistent and even conflicting results from empirical testing of human rights theories does not, in and of itself, negate the validity of those theories. A brief review of Imre Lakatos’ description of theories as research programs will help to make these points clear. 7 Before discussing Lakatos, however, the article will summarize the combined results from this body of literature. In the new edition of his textbook on human rights, Jack Donnelly briefly considers MNCs as an important new topic for human rights research. 8 Donnelly illustrates his discussion with an example taken from an advertisement placed by the Mobil Corporation in The Economist. 9 This ad defends MNC investments and operations in countries that have repressive governments. 10 According to the Mobil ad, if one of our goals is to promote [End Page 221] civil and political reforms in repressive nations, then “great global companies can be a positive force for change.” 11 The results of my 1996 HRQ article could be interpreted as lending support to these claims. My research showed that when the concept of first-generation rights is operationalized as Freedom House rankings on civil liberties and political rights, and then those Freedom House rankings are compared to direct foreign investment (DFI) by US MNCs, the results show strong positive correlations between rising MNC investment and better civil and political rights. 12 Similarly, when I operationalized second-generation rights via the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), and then compared PQLI scores to DFI by MNCs, I once again found strong positive correlations between increased DFI and improved human rights. 13 As DFI increased, literacy, life expectancy, and infant survival rates all improved as well. 14 My research argues that civil and political rights (as measured by Freedom House) correlate positively with DFI. 15 My research also shows strong positive correlations between DFI and second-generation socioeconomic rights (the PQLI). 16 The follow-up study by Smith’s team argues that my conclusions are in error. 17 When they measured civil and political rights by means of Amnesty International’s reports, or by means of the US State Department’s reports on human rights, they found weak negative correlations between first-generation rights and DFI by MNCs. Smith’s team also substituted data on DFI as measured by the World Bank for my data on US DFI (as reported by the Commerce Department). 18 They found a negative relationship between the PQLI and net DFI. 19 Has Smith’s...

Measuring the Well-Beings of the Developing Countries: Achievement and Improvement Indices

The paradigm of development in the recent days has been shifted from Per Capita Gross National Product (PCGNP) to Human Well-being. It has also been admitted broadly that PCGNP does not automatically transformed into human well-being. It has thus become common practice to use a range of socio-economic variables for measuring the human Well-being (quality of life) in a country. In order to measure the well-being of about 70 developing countries, this study widens the scope of the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) introduced by Morris, by incorporating a number of social aspects of life. On the basis of these indicators, the achievements in the quality of life of these countries are analyzed in this study. An attempt is also made to compare the decadal improvements in their performances in respect of the quality of life over a period of 1960 to 1990. The study also attempts to analyze the relations between achievements and improvements of quality of life and achievements and improvements in terms of PCRGDP of the countries.

Women's health status and gender inequality in China

This paper examines the health status of women in China by reviewing levels and trends of female mortality at several phases of a woman's life cycle focusing on infancy, girlhood, childbearing and old age. The mortality rates of Chinese women and men are compared for the period 1950–1990 as are comparisons with women in selected countries. The cause-specific death rate, expressed as a percentage of all deaths, and the burden of disease, measured in terms of the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), are used to reflect the changing patterns of female diseases and causes of deaths. Significant improvement in the health status of Chinese women since 1950 is widely acknowledged as a major achievement for a developing country with the largest population in the world, but the differentials in women's health by region and urban/rural areas are considerable. The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) indicates that the overall level of physical well-being of Chinese women has increased in recent decades, but disparity in health between men and women still exists. The Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) further reveals that China has achieved significant progress in women's health during the past four decades, but far less has been achieved with respect to gender equality overall. The final sections of the paper focus on the discussion of some health problems faced by the female population during the process of economic reform since the 1980 s. In order to promote gender equality between women and men, concerns on women's health care needs are highlighted.

The choice of principal variables for computing the Physical Quality of Life Index

213 The present paper addresses the issue of choice of principal variables for computing the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). To this end, the variable selection strategy considered by Jolliffe, which utilizes the principal components approach, is applied to the data for 150 countries reported by Morris. To test the robustness of our results the methodology is also applied to four different subsamples of the 150 countries (low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high income). All the results indicate the need to retain only one of the three components of the PQLI, namely the literacy index. Thus, a simpler PQLI series based solely on the literacy index would be cheaper to compute without loss of too much information.

Basic minimum needs, quality of life and selected correlates : Explorations in villages in northern India

For those involved in international development, one of the major goals is an improvement in the quality of life of the poor. Bhargava and Chakrabati (1992: 133) see the “primary objective of development at any given time is to improve the quality of life”. Indeed, the mission statement for an international development organization explicitly commits itself to the improvement of the quality of life for the “poorest of the poor” (DID, 1994). Social indicators, as “transeconomic” measures of quality of life, have “become an integral part of 'development indicators”' (Kao and Liu, 1984: 400; see, also Kahn, 1991). The connection between quality of life and development extends beyond the Third World. For example, in the U.S. Myers (1987) found quality of life influenced inmigration to Austin, Texas, thus affecting its economic development. Undoubtedly the majority of the connections between social indicators and development has been examined at the macro, or national levels using economic, health, education and other objective, comparative indices. Recognizing that such measures as GNP are oftentimes inadequate, assorted indices have been derived to gauge the changes in social development over time, e.g., the well-known Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) constructed by the Overseas Development Council (Morris, 1976). Many of these tend to focus on objective, material indicators (commodity possessions) as opposed to the more subjective ones (Anand and Ravallion, 1993). It is not the purpose of this paper to examine the various critics' arguments about the strengths and weaknesses of extant macro versus micro indices, but rather to lend support for the general need to assess development and social change through social indicators, whether macro or micro, objective or subjective. Ultimately, the purpose of the assessment should guide which social indicators are selected. The purpose of this paper is to examine several issues arising from the linkages between development efforts and quality of life (QOL). Using empirical data which were gathered to evaluate a community development project in the Garhwal region of Northern India, several issues, germane to both social indicators and development, will be investigated. These include: (1) the relationship between “Basic Minimum Needs” (BMNs) and QOL, (2) some methodological innovations for measuring both BMNs and QOL, and (3) selected correlates of BMNs and social indicators of QOL for Garhwali villagers. Before describing the project and its findings, we will first place it in the overall development context.