ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTIVE INDICATORS OF QUALITY OF LIFE IN MAKURDI TOWN OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA
Abstract
Quality of life measurements are an appropriate means for achieving an understanding of Human needs. This study analyses the quality of life in Makurdi town of Benue state, Nigeria using subjective indices. A sample of 400 respondents was determined based on Taro Yamane formula; and questionnaires were administered on them. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics. The result of the study shows that demographically, males and people within the age group of 31-40years and educated people dominated the study area. The result of the study shows that only 1% of the respondents are currently on top of the ladder of quality of life, enjoying the best possible life in the study area. About 74% of the respondent occupied step 5 below. This implies that majority of the people in the study area are currently far from desired quality of life. The study also reveals that in the next five years, about 47% of the people hope to be between steps 6-10 on the quality of life ladder in the study area. This shows an increase of 21% when compare with the current situation in the same range. However, the best possible quality of life in the next five years will remain constant with only 1%. The study reveals that the general well-being of people in Makurdi town on the basis of their experiences of positive, good, pleasant, happiness, joyfulness and contentment is low hence majority of the people have no such experiences but rather the opposite which include negative, bad, unpleasant, sad, angry and discontent. It therefore means that majority of the residents of Makurdi town are in the lower levels on the ladder of quality of life. This study recommends deliberate effort by government and NGOs to provide the basic social amenities and social security packages that will improve people’s quality of life in the town.
Downloads
References
Implications on Food Security in Benue State, Nigeria. Confluence Journal of Environmental Studies (CJES) Vol. 7 Pp 59-6.
Ahmadvand, M; Hedayatinia, S and Abdollahi, K. (2013). Investigation of the Effects of
Wellbeing and Social Capital on Quality of Life (QoL) in Rural Areas of Boyer Ahmad City, Journal of
Alexander, C; Ishikawa , S; Silverstein, M; Jacobson, M; Fiksdahl-King, I; & Angel, S. (1977). A Pattern Language. New York: Okford University Press.
Appleyard, D. (1981). Livable Streets. Berkerley: University of California Press.
Barcaccia, Barbara. (2013). Quality Of Life: Everyone Wants It, But What Is It?. Forbes/
Education. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T., & Tiesdell, S. (2003). Public Places-Urban Spaces. Amsterdam,Boston,Heidelberg,London,New York,Oxford,Paris,San Diego,Singapore,Sydney,Tokyo: Architectural Press.
Camfield, Laura. (2005). Researching Quality of Life in Developing Countries.Newsletter of the
ESRC Research Group on Well being in Developing Countries. Retrieved July 3, 2005 from http://www.welldev.org.uk/news/newsletter-april-05.htm
Das, D., (2008), Urban Quality of Life: A Case Study of Guwahati, Social Indicators Research,
Vol. 88, PP. 297-310.
Gehl, J. (2002). Public Spaces and Public Life City of Adelaide. Adelaide: Adelaide City Council.
Ghalibaf, M.B; Roustaie, M; Ramezanzadeh lasboyee, M; and Taheri, M. R. (2012). Assessment
Urban Quality of Life (Case Study: Yaft Abad), Geography, No. 31, pp: 33-53.
Giovannini, Enrico. (2005) Progress Measuring Progress. Retrieved June 1 2005 from
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1515/Progress_measuring_progress.html
Gregory, D; Johnston, R; Pratt, G; Watts, M and Whatmore, S. (2009). Quality of Life:
Dictionary of Human Geography, 5th Edition, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
Ibrahim, M; and Chung, W. (2003). Quality of Life Residents Living Near Industrial Estates in
Singapore, Social Indicator Research, Vol. 61, PP. 201-225.
Lee, Y.J. (2008). Subjective Quality of Life Measurement in Taipei. Building and Environment,
43(7), Pp: 1205-1215.
Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge Massachusetts: The Mit Press.
McCrea, R; Shyy, T.K. and Stimson, R. (2006). What is the Strength of the Link between
Objective and Subjective Indicators of Urban Quality of Life? Applied Research in Quality of Life, Vol. 1, No. 1, PP. 79-96.
McNally, James W. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development Vol.3 ed.
USA: Macmillan Reference. p. 317.
Mojtaba Shoeibi, Iman Amraii, Amin Mafakheri,Aram Karimi,Ayda AlahdiniVandi. (2015).
Analysis of Subjective Indicators of Quality of Life in Urban Areas of Iran (Case Study: Sonqor City). Quest Journals Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science Volume 3, Issue 3 pp:39-46ISSN(Online) : 2321-9467. Open access at www.questjournals.org
Noll, Heinz-Herbert (2005). Conceptual Framework of the European System of Social
Indicators. German Social Science Infrastructure Services. Retrieved July 4, 2005 from http://www.gesis.org/en/social_monitoring/social_indicators/Data/EUSI/framework.htm
Ologunorisa, T. E; T. Tersoo, (2006). The Changing Rainfall Pattern and its Implication for
Flood Frequency in Makurdi, Northern Nigeria, Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 10 (3), 26.
Prescott-Allen, Robert. (2001). The Well being of Nations. Covelo, CA: IDRC/Island Press 2001.
Described and with data at the World Conservation Union http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/wbon.html
Qin, P; Agerbo, E; Mortensen, P.B. (2003). Suicide Risk in Relation to Socioeconomic,
Demographic, Psychiatric, and Familial Factors: A National Register-based Study of all Suicides in Denmark, 1981–1997". Am J Psychiatry. 160 (4): 765–72. PMID 12668367. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.4.765
Shackman, Gene, Yal-in Liu and Xun Wang. (2005). Brief review of world quality of life.
Available at http://gsociology.icaap.org/report/cqual.html
Sharpe, A; and Jeremy S. (2005). Measuring the Impact of Research on Well-being. Report
number: 2005-02. Centre for the Study of Living Standards. Feb 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2005 from http://www.csls.ca/res_reports.asp
Copyright (c) 2018 IJRDO - Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research (ISSN: 2456-2971)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Author(s) and co-author(s) jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere. Author(s) agree to the terms that the IJRDO Journal will have the full right to remove the published article on any misconduct found in the published article.
