Springer Quality of life in Italy: Research and Reflections: 48 (Social Indicators Research Series, 48)

Full of cogent analysis relating to well being and quality of life, this book is the outcome of the first Italian national conference on the subject, tackling numerous high-profile issues such as political participation, wealth distribution and public health. From the Back Cover The outcome of the first Italian National Conference on Quality of Life, this volume is full of cogent analysis of topics and issues related to well being and quality of life, including focused papers on specific population groupings and discrete themes. Held in Florence in September 2010, the conference saw the creation of the Italian Association of Quality-of-Life Studies, devised as a forum for this varied field of research with a rapidly expanding profile in the context of the continuing financial crisis. The papers address a number of recognized quality-of-life concerns, including public health, wealth distribution, employment, political participation and the perception of crime. Contributors deploy innovative methods of analyzing official statistics that result in more complex and multidimensional indicators. Some papers provide data on other European nations that allow for comparative assessment, while others set out fresh approaches to evaluating quality of life itself. Highly relevant not just to academics, but to policy makers and practitioners in a range of sectors, this publication explores important aspects of a crucial contemporary subject. About the Author Filomena Maggino is professor of Social Statistics at the University of Florence (Italy) and chief of the Laboratory of Statistics for Research in Social and Educational field. In the field of statistics applied to social research, her twenty-year research covers mainly data (i) production (with particular reference to subjective data assessment), (ii) analysis (with particular reference to multivariate analysis, scaling models and composite indicator construction), and presentation and dissemination (with particular reference to defining a model aimed at assessing the quality of communication in statistics). Her research interests aim at seeing these topics in the perspective of quality of life assessment. Her involvement in ISQOLS is decennial (member from 2000, board member from 2001 and VP of Academic Affair from 2004 and current President-Elect) and outstanding (chair and organizer of the IX Conference in Florence, ISQOLS reference member for the agreement with the OECD Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies, in which ISQOLS is Associate Organization). She is member of several international associations, many scientific journals’ editorial board, scientific committees and session organizer/chair of numerous international conferences. She is involved in many international and national initiatives, roundtables, and training courses related to the movement on “Beyond GDP”. She is co-founder and president of the Italian Association for Quality-of-Life Studies (Associazione Italiana per gli Studi sulla Qualità della Vita – AIQUAV). - Professor of Statistics applied to Social Research at the University of Florence - Head of the Laboratory of Statistics for Research in Social and Educational field (Lab-StaRSE) - President of the Italian Association for Quality-of-Life Studies (AIQUAV) - President Elect of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) - Component of the OECD Global Project Research Network on Measuring the Progress - Component of the Scientific Committee for the Measurement of Wellbeing (Commissione scientifica per la misura del benessere) established at Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on April 2011 - Cooperating with the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on quality-of-life and wellbeing issues - Member of several international associations, many scientific journals’ editorial board, scientific committees and session organizer/chair of numerous international