Counting Happiness – Objective Measurement of a Subjective Concept

The 2011 UK Census will attempt for the first time to measure how happy we are, the ONS actually call it ‘Subjective Well Being’ – SWB. It sounds like herding cats to me. In the run up to the exam season it provides an interesting way to introduce/refresh the methodological issues of Sociology and Science, Objectivity and Subjectivity.

Needless to say this has provoked a lot of interest in the media. In his BBC blog, Mark Easton provides a comprehensive review of the issue, with lots of interesting international graphs (we’re a miserable lot) and links to some more in depth research. Whilst (Mr Grumpy) Laurie Taylor in his weekly BBC R4 programme (about 12 minutes in) talks to the French philosopher Pascal Bruckner who believes that…... ‘happiness has become a burdensome duty and that the wave of enthusiasm for pursuing the nebulous quality has the opposite effect of actually promoting unhappiness amongst those who seek it’. In other words don’t chase happiness, just embrace it when it arrives.