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Studies

Smith (1979): study US 1956

Publication

Author(s):
Smith, T.W.
Title:
Happiness: Time Trends, Seasonal Variations, Intersurvey Differences, and Other Mysteries.
Source:
Social Psychology Quarterly, 1979, Vol. 42, 18 - 30

Investigation

Public
Adults, age range not reported, general public, United States, 1956
Survey name
US-AIPO-569
Sample
Probability sample (unspecified)
Respondents
N = 2240
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

In general, how happy would you say you are..?
4  very happy
3  fairly happy
2  not very happy
1  not at all happy
-   NA/DK
Classification:
O-HL-g-sq-v-4-b
Page in publication:
22
Observed distribution
Frequencies
1: 2.4%,   2: 3.9%,   3: 44.4%,   4: 50.5%   (total 101.2%)
Summary Statistics
On original range 1 - 4 On range 0-10
Mean:
3.41 7.66
SD:
0.68 1.89