This review examines research literature on the Quality of Life (QOL) pub­ lished in Canada and the United States since 1975. Of particular interest are the definition and measurement of QOL, theoretical perspectives of QOL, the findings of QOL research, and the impact of this research on public policy. A brief critical assessment accompanies the discussion of each topic, and a forecast is ventured of the future of QOL research in sociology.

Quality of life research and sociology

The scope of this chapter is somewhat unusual. Ordinary treatment of such a topic would be a review and theoretical exposition or a briefer exposition linked to an empirical test of a model. Instead, this chapter comprises a review and theoretical exposition, including the operationalization of cogent variables, but a test of the model is not included. Reference is made to a pilot study, but its results are to follow in later publications. Thus the chapter presents a three-quarter view. The intent is to describe how theory was used to approach a research issue and to grapple with the many problems of measurement. Deviation from a traditional approach hinged on space considerations and the importance of focusing on the processes of trying to bring various perspectives to bear upon a problem. The chapter deals with integration of the literature toward development of a conceptual model and exemplars of the types of measurement strategies that fall within the domain of that model. The first section sketches the model’s parentage and special issues that bear upon its development and briefly outlines the model. The next section describes relevant aspects of models which serve as background and resource for subsequent sections describing the attempt to integrate and build upon existing knowledge to provide a framework for studying the effects on older people of personal and environmental characteristics. They deal with model components: person, environment, person-environment congruence, mediators, and outcomes. The final section is traditional in that it points to future work.

Robert C. Sahr

Papers

Perceptions of environmental quality