Social Indicators and the Concepts of Quality of Life, Subjective Well-Being, and Resilience

Abstract

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1962) got the assignment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate potential intended and unintended consequences of space exploration on the American society (American Academy of Arts and Sciences). Several scholars were involved in this multi-year project. They quickly discovered a lack of available data that measure and evaluate secondary effects of technology on people (Land 1983). It was then Raymond Bauer who filled this gap with the invention of the term and basic concept of 'social indicators' in 1966. His correspondent publication was considered as the project's most important. Even though the concern of societies with 'How we are doing?' and the usage of statistical indicators in order to measure social trends already existed for a long time, Bauer's publication launched the so called 'social indicators movement' (Noll 2002). He defined social indi-cators as … statistics, statistical series, and all other forms of evidence that enable us to assess where we stand and are going with respect to our values and goals, and to evaluate specific programs and determine their impact (Bauer 1966a, b, p. 1). With the social indicators, a way was paved for evaluating and monitoring the condition of groups in a society over time (Land 2000). However, Bauer's book was not an isolated event. In the same year of its appearance, President Johnson placed an order with the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare—Wilbur J. Cohen: … to develop the necessary social statistics and indicators to supplement those prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Council of Economic Advisers (USDHEW 1969, p. 3).