Community Quality-of-Life Indicators

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What is the course about?

This course is designed to help community indicator researchers and those who are stepping into this position enhance their professional knowledge of the subject matter.

The course contains ten modules.

The first module is essentially an introduction to the course.

The second module discusses the theoretical foundations of community indicators research. Five theoretical concepts are described guiding the formulation of community indicator projects.

The third module provides an example of a community indicators project as an illustration of the entire process without delving too much into details.

The fourth and fifth modules describe the planning process: how to identify sponsors, secure funding, develop an organizational structure, select a quality-of-life model, select indicators, and so on.

The sixth and seventh modules focus on data collection and data analysis. Two types of data collection are described: secondary and primary data collection. The process of these two data collections is described in some detail.

Finally, the eighth, ninth, and tenth modules describe the last stage of the project, namely dissemination, promotion, and follow-up. Specifically, these modules describe how public and research reports are developed and distributed, and how they are promoted.

Course content

Chapter 1

Introduction

Welcome Video

15 min

Preview

Learning Objectives Module 1

3 min

Community

10 min

Community Indicators

10 min

Community Indicators Projects

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 2

Theoretical Foundations

Learning Objectives Module 2

5 min

The Concept of Personal Utility

15 min

The Concept of Opulence

15 min

The Concept of the Just Society

15 min

The Concept of Human Need Satisfaction

15 min

The Concept of Sustainability

15 min

Bibliography

Chapter 3

An Example

Learning Objectives

15 min

Initiating an Indicators Project

5 min

Forming an Indicators Project Committee

5 min

Developing an Initial Set of Indicators

10 min

Refining the Initial Set of Indicators and Collecting Data

10 min

Validating Objective Indicators with Subjective Ones

10 min

Translating System Indicators into Program and Policy Indicators

10 min

Disseminating the Indicators' Findings

5 min

Bibliography

Chapter 4

Organizing

Learning Objectives

5 min

Holding a Feasibility Meeting

10 min

Developing an Organizational Structure

10 min

Visioning

10 min

Finding an Organization that Will Conduct the Process

10 min

Securing Funding

10 min

Developing and Sustaining a Budget

Bibliography

Chapter 5

Making Decisions about Indicators

Learning Objectives

5 min

Deciding on the Geographic Boundaries and Units Within

10 min

Selecting the Quality-of-Life Dimensions

10 min

Selecting the Quality-of-Life Indicators

10 min

Putting things Together (Secondary Data)

10 min

Considering Subjective Indicators (Primary Data)

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 6

Data Collection

Learning Objectives

10 min

Secondary Data

10 min

Primary Data

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 7

Data Analysis

Learning Objectives

10 min

Data Variables and Measurement Scales

15 min

Statistical Analysis

15 min

Developing a Composite Index

15 min

Data Mining

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 8

Data Reporting

Learning Objectives

10 min

The Public Report

15 min

The Research Report

15 min

Translating Outcome Indicators into Action Indicators

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 9

Promotion

Learning Objectives

10 min

Printing and Distributing the Reports

10 min

Launching a Public Relations Campaign

10 min

Conducting E-Marketing

10 min

Other Forms of Promotion

10 min

Stimulating Community Action

10 min

Bibliography

Chapter 10

Follow-Up

Learning Objectives

10 min

Annual Reviews

10 min

Measuring the Impact of Indicators Reports

15 min

Bibliography

What will you learn?

Students taking this course will gain:
• a theoretical foundation to guide the development of community indicators projects
• knowledge of how to plan a community indicators project
• knowledge of how to collect and validate data and insight into how to best utilize primary and secondary data
• knowledge of how to prepare, promote, and disseminate community indicators reports
• knowledge of how to stimulate community action and measure the subsequent impact of the community indicators project.

What is the target audience?

Community planners
Researchers working in nonprofit organizations
Consultants who want to specialize in community indicators research
Researchers in local government agencies who wish to receive additional training in developing indicator systems related to a particular domain such as public health, the environment, etc.
Academic researchers who are interested in developing research and/or teaching expertise in this area

What prior knowledge is required?

A college degree with a major in any of the social, behavioral, administrative, and policy sciences could help the student easily navigate through this course

Course instructors

Go to Profile

M. Joseph Sirgy

M. Joseph Sirgy (https://sites.google.com/a/vt.edu/joe-sirgy-personal-website/) is a management psychologist (Ph.D., U/Massachusetts, 1979), the Virginia Tech Real Estate Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA), and an Extraordinary Professor at the WorkWell Research Unit at North West University—Potchefstroom Campus (South Africa).

He has published extensively in the area of business administration, business ethics, and quality of life (QOL). He co-founded the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) in 1995, served as its Executive Director/Treasurer from 1995 to 2011, and as a development Co-Director (2011–present). In 1998, he received the Distinguished Fellow Award from ISQOLS. In 2003, ISQOLS honored him as the Distinguished QOL Researcher for research excellence and a record of lifetime achievement in QOL research. He also served as a President of the Academy of Marketing Science (2002–2004) from which he received the Distinguished Fellow Award in the early 1990s and the Harold Berkman Service Award in 2007 (lifetime achievement award for serving the marketing professoriate). In the early 2000s, he helped co-found the Macromarketing Society and the Community Indicators Consortium and has served as a board member of these two professional associations. He co-founded the journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life, the official journal of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, in 2005; and he has served as a co-founding
editor (1995–present). He also served as an editor of the QOL section in the Journal of Macromarketing (1995–2016). He received the Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Teaching Excellence Award/Holtzman Outstanding Educator Award and University Certificate of Teaching Excellence in 2008.

In 2010, ISQOLS honored him for excellence and lifetime service to the society. In 2010, he won the Best Paper Award in the Journal of Happiness Studies for his theory of the balanced life; in 2011, he won the Best Paper Award in the Journal of Travel Research for his goal theory of leisure travel satisfaction. In 2012, he was awarded the EuroMed Management Research Award for outstanding achievements and groundbreaking contributions to well-being and quality of-life research. In 2019, the Macromarketing Society honored him with the Robert W. Nason Award for extraordinary and sustained contributions to the field of Macromarketing. He is currently serving as an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Macromarketing (2020–present).

He also was the editor of ISQOLS/Springer book series on International Handbooks in QOL (2008–2015), Community QOL Indicators: Best Cases (2004–2015), Applied Research in QOL: Best Practices (2008–2012). He is currently the co-editor of Springer book series on Human Well-Being and Policy Making (2015–present).

His recent books include:
-Shultz II, Clifford J., Don R. Rahtz, and M. Joseph Sirgy (Eds.) (2022). Community, Economy, and COVID-19: Lessons from Multi-Country Analyses of a Global Pandemic. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Sirgy, M. Joseph (2022). The Balanced Life: Using Strategies from Behavioral Science to Enhance Wellbeing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sirgy, M. Joseph (2021). The Psychology of Quality of Life: Wellbeing and
Positive Mental Health. 3rd edition. Dordrecht: Springer.
Sirgy, M. Joseph (2020). Positive Balance: A Theory of Well-Being and Positive Mental Health. Dordrecht: Springer Publishing.
Sirgy, M. Joseph, Richard J. Estes, El-Sayed El-Aswad, and Don R. Rahtz
(2019). Combatting Jihadist Terrorism through Nation Building: A Quality-of-Life Perspective. Dordrecht: Springer Publishing.
Estes, Richard J. and M. Joseph Sirgy (2018). Advances in Well-Being: Toward a Better World. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Uysal, Muzaffer, Stefan Kruger, and M. Joseph Sirgy (Eds.) (2018). Managing Quality of Life in Tourism and Hospitality: Best Practices. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI Publishers.
Estes, Richard J. and M. Joseph Sirgy (Eds.) (2017). The Pursuit of Well-being: The Untold Global History. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.
Sirgy, M. Joseph, Rhonda Phillips, and Don Rahtz (Eds.) (2013). Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases VI. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.
Sirgy, M. Joseph (2012). The Psychology of Quality of Life: Hedonic Wellbeing, Life Satisfaction, and Eudaimonia. 2nd edition. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.
Reilly, Nora P., M. Joseph Sirgy, and C. Allen Gorman (Eds.) (2012). Work and Quality of Life: Ethical Practices in Organizations. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.
Uysal, Muzaffer, Richard Perdue, and M. Joseph Sirgy (Eds.) (2012). Handbook of Tourism and Quality-of-Life Research: Enhancing the Lives of Tourists and Residents. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.
Land, Kenneth C., Alex C. Michalos, and M. Joseph Sirgy (Eds.) (2012).
Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality-of-Life Research. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Publishing.

In relation to community indicators research, the author has been involved in community indicators research for many years. He has authored many publications in this area. He was also a co-editor of Springer’s book series on Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases (2004–2015) with professors Rhonda Phillips (Purdue University) and Don Rahtz (College of William & Mary). He has been an instructor of the Community Indicators Research Certification Program (a certification program of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, ISQOLS; https://isqols.org/Certification) for many years, and he wrote the training manual for the program. The book is based on this training manual. Finally, he has been involved as a member of a taskforce of a regional community indicators project in Southwest Virginia: The New Century Council.

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Community Quality-of-Life Indicators

What is the course about?

Course content

What will you learn?

What is the target audience?

What prior knowledge is required?

Course instructors

M. Joseph Sirgy

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