Our book is a useful "how to" book for researchers and government offices wanting to start or improve their own QOL survey, and contains "best practices" from all over the world. We discuss cutting-edge surveys that are being adopted by all countries in the European community as a standardized measure of each country's progress. We also discuss how developing countries can begin the measurement of Quality of Life in ways that will increase political credibility and require smaller budgets. Other chapters describe policy applications of the Quality of Life surveys, including nations' health goals, smoking cessation, child welfare, and poverty reduction.

The authors of these chapters are the world's top experts on assessing Quality of Life. For example, the author of the first chapter is Sten Johansson, former Director of Statistics Sweden, responsible for creating the first comprehensive QOL assessment systems in the world, beginning in the 1960's. The author of the second chapter is Professor Ruut Veenhoven, known as the premier researcher on national happiness, having developed the largest database in the world on the subjective measures of well-being. Heinz-Herbert Noll is responsible for developing the unified Quality of Life measurement system for the new European Union, where up to 25 countries will be assessed using the same methodology and questionnaires.

Inhalt
Concepts and Theory.- Conceptualizing and Measuring Quality of Life for National Policy.- Why Social Policy Needs Subjective Indicators.- Towards a European System of Social Indicators: Theoretical Framework and System Architecture.- Current Social Indicator and Social Reporting Programs: National and Comparative Experience.- Strategies and Traditions in Swedish Social Reporting: A 30-Year Experience.- Quality of Life and Living Conditions in the Netherlands.- Quality of Life Research at the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics: Social Indicators and Social Surveys.- Quality of Life in a European Perspective: The EUROMODULE as a New Instrument for Comparative Welfare Research.- The Norbalt Project: Comparative Studies of Living Conditions in the Three Baltic Countries.- Living Conditions in the Arctic.- Cross-National Comparison of the Quality of Life in Europe: Inventory of Surveys and Methods.- Applying Social Indicators to Effect Social Change.- Telesis: The Uses of Indicators to Set Goals and Develop Programs to Change Conditions.- The Role of Quality of Life Surveys in Managing Change in Democratic Transitions: The South African Case.- Monitoring the Impact of Land Reform on Quality of Life: A South African Case Study.- Toward a Social Development Index for Hong Kong: The Process of Community Engagement.- International Comparisons of Trends in Economic Well-Being.- Declining Quality of Life Costs Governments Elections: Review of 13 OECD Countries.- Considering Social Cohesion in Quality of Life Assessments: Concept and Measurement.- Do Income Surveys Overestimate Poverty in Western Europe? Evidence from a Comparison with Institutional Frameworks.