Nevenka Cernigoj Sadar
QUALITY OF LIFE RESEARCH IN SLOVENIA
The Quality ofLife Research was initiated by Veljko Rus in 1983 at
the Institute ofSociology in Ljubljana . In 1991 the Institute joined the
Faculty of Social Sciences and the research group continued with its
work at the Institute of Social Sciences - Center for Welfare studies.
The long term aims of the project are :
- to develop non-monetary measures ofsocial development and of
the well-being of citizens;
- to analyse the relationships between measures of well-being in vari-
ous areas of life ;
- to follow changes in the situations of various social groups;
- to understand the mechanisms influencing the improvement and
deterioration of the quality of life;
- to analyse the relationships between changes (political, social and in
economy) on a macro-level and individual and group reactions ;
to identify the disadvantaged and the most deprived social groups ;
to offer suggestions for social policy planning and the evaluation of
its implementation .
The first survey was conducted in 1984 on a representative sample
of the Slovenian population aged from 15 to 75 years (N= 2472) . The
second survey was titled "Stratification and the Quality of Life in
Yugoslavia - 1987" and was conducted on a sample representing
Yugoslav regions. The next two surveys in 1991 (N=1395) and 1994
(N=1806) were again on representative samples of the population of
Slovenia. The sample in 1994 included the population from 18 years
onward and had no upper age limit . The analysis of this sample indi-
cated that the sample was biased in some demographic dimensions,
therefore in the elementary analysis the data has been weighted .
Vehovar (1995) undertook the analysis of the sample and the weight-
ing procedures .
Researchers from different professional backgrounds, sociologists,
psychologists and philosophers, have collaborated since the begin-
ning of the project. Economists, mathematicians and doctors have
occasionally been consulted or have joined the project as well . The
project provided an opportunity for the professional development and
academic promotion of young researchers and others involved, who
were able to transfer their knowledge to undergraduate and post-
graduate students and to the various public organizations responsible
DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23
	
7
for the implementation of social policy measures . The concept quality
of life has also been used outside the social sciences, in medicine,
technology and in economics (Svetlik, 1995) .
The results of the researchers' work number about 350 biblio-
graphical units published in scientific or professional journals and
books in Slovenia and abroad . In Slovenia most of the results are
presented in Družboslovne razprave (Social Sciences Discussions)
numbers 4 and 12 . A Quality of Life Studies bibliography from 1983
to 1992 edited by Cernigoj Sadar was published in the bilingual
(Slovenian/English) Welfare Studies Center Bulletin, No .5, 1992. The
tenth anniversary of the empirical surveys was celebrated with
Kakovost življenja v Sloveniji (1995) (Quality of Life in Slovenia), a
book edited by the recent project coordinator Ivan Svetlik. In the fol lowing monograph the leading themes are taken from this book, how-
ever most of the articles have been abbreviated and some new
analyses of the empirical data have been added .
CONCEPTUAL FRAME OF REFERENCE
In the first Quality of Life in Slovenia research in 1984 we adapted
the Swedish model - the Level of Living Study - which put forward
man's/woman's capacity to satisfy various needs . In the Swedish
welfare research three constitutive elements of an individual's level of
living were taken into account: the individual's resources, the context
and the most essential living conditions . The fist Level of Living study
(1968) was inspired by Titmuss's concept of `command over
resources'. Level of living was defined as "the individual's command
over resources in the form of money, possessions, knowledge, mental
and physical energy, social relations, security and so on, through
which the individual can control and consciously direct his living
conditions" (Johansson, 1970 :20, citation from Erikson & Aberg,
1987)). Erikson and Aberg (1987:3) emphasised the importance of
context:
"The context refers to conditions that reflect the labour market, the
housing market, the educational system, and the health care system.
Individual's resources and the conditions for making use of them
together determine the scope of individuals for directing their own
lives". Partly influenced by a group of experts on social indicators at
the United Nations and partly influenced by the most important prob-
lems in all industrialised societies, the following areas or components
of life were included in the research:
Health and the access to health care
Employment and working conditions
Economic resources
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DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23
- Education and skills
- Family and social integration
- Housing and neighbourhood facilities
- Security of life and property
- Recreation and culture
- Political resources
The same areas, covered mostly by the same indicators, were in-
cluded in thefirst questionnaire on Quality of Life (1984) in Slovenia.
In the Slovenian approach besides, the access and control over
resources, the reflective participation of men and women in both pri-
vate and public life has been emphasised (Cernigoj Sadar, 1992) .
In the first theoretical discussions in Slovenia on quality of life
(Antoncic & Boh, 1991 ; Kolaric, 1984: Rus, 1984) and in the interpre-
tations of the first empirical results the concept of basic needs
(Allardt,1995; Maslow, 1954; Mc Call, 1986) has been taken into
account ; however the level of need satisfaction together with the sub-
jective evaluation of various areas of life had not been sufficiently
elaborated as a research tool until the nineties . The concepts most
often cited by Slovenian researchers are Allardt's concepts of Having,
Loving and Being (Allardt, 1995:89-91) :
" Having refers to those material conditions which are necessary for
survival and for avoidance of misery . It covers needs for nutrition,
air, water for protection against climate, environment, diseases, etc. "
For this group the author proposes the following measures : economic
resources, housing conditions, working conditions, health, education,
and measures pertaining to biological and physical environment .
"Loving stands for the need to relate to other people and to form
social identities . The level of need satisfaction can be assessed by
measures denoting : attachment and contacts in the local community,
with the fellow members in associations and organizations, attach-
ment to family and kin, active patterns offriendship and relation-
ships with work-mates .
Being stands for the need of integration into society and to live in
harmony with nature. The positive side of being may be characterized
as personal growth, whereas the negative aspects stands for alien-
ation". The following indicators belong to this group: participation in
decisions and activities influencing an individual's life, and opportuni-
ties for meaningful work and leisure-time pursuits and for enjoying
nature .
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9
The author suggests that in order to assess the level of human wel-
fare we need objective measures of external conditions (usually
designed by experts or researchers) as well as subjective evaluations
by citizens themselves . The word `objective' also refers to reports of
real conditions and overt behaviour, while the word `subjective' refers
to evaluations - subjective feelings of satisfaction/dissatisfaction,
feelings of happiness /unhappiness - or to personal growth, wants,
aspirations, and attitudes .
The recent Slovenian Quality of Life study is concerned with
resources and the needs of the individual' . The interviewee himself
/herself describes and evaluates his/her well-being . To give a picture
of individual well-being, both objective and subjective indicators are
used. The studies in particular areas of life also use the statistical
data on aggregate level . However to understand the level of satisfac-
tion, we need to know, apart from the information about resources,
at least one of the following : with whom (or with which group) the
individual compares himself/herself, what is the goal-achievement
gap, and the level of adaptation to sources of satisfaction . In our sur-
vey we have no direct measures to answer these questions . Howev-
er, our conceptual approach enables research into social inequality
and the way of life determined by the social structure as well as the
research into life styles constituted by subjective preferences and
values (Novak, 1995) .
CHANGES IN THE RESEARCH APPROACH
In the first three surveys (1984, 1989, 1991) the cross sectional
approach had been used . In the last empirical research (1994) we
were interested in the dynamics of processes in the lives of the inter-
viewees, therefore the cross-sectional approach was combined with
an event-oriented observation design . Retrospective data on the rep-
resentative sample from 1974 to 1994 has been obtained for the
domains of education, employment/working conditions, family
(cohabitations, marriages, children), housing mobility, housing condi-
tions, spatial mobility, and some aspects of leisure . In addition to the
primary representative sample, retrospective data on the educational
and employment careers of coresident partners of the respondents
has been collected.
During the last ten years the content of the questionnaire has
changed; however, the main core questions have remained un-
changed. The questionnaire "Quality of Life in Slovenia 1994" has the
following chapters :
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DR, Vol.X1I(1996)22-23
A. Conditions while growing up
B. Regional and housing mobility
C. Housing conditions and neighbourhood (living environment)
D. Partnership and household
E. Children
F Health
G. Education
H. Working status and career
I. Present work situation
J. Economic resources
K. Safety
L. Leisure
M. Final questions : general satisfaction with life, control over one's
own life, and personal/family plansfor the next few years
The questionnaire is translated into English and available at the
Institute of Social Sciences' Center for Welfare studies, Faculty of
Social Sciences in Ljubljana . The members of the research team are
interested in exchanging the ideas and undertaking comparative
research on various aspects of quality of life with academics and
practitioners in Europe andfrom other parts of the world .
THE CONTENT OF THE CHAPTERS
The articles in this monograph are very heterogeneous . However,
they give an overview of the most relevant themes on quality of life
discussed among social science professionals in Slovenia and cover
the most recent studies based on empirical material .
The articles are divided into two groups according to their research
approach. In the first part the articles based on crossection design
and comparisons of living conditions in 1984 and 1994 are present-
ed. The first articles cover the area of formal production, material
quality of life and quality of life in living environment .
Ivan Svetlik, in "Quality of Working Life", analyses the opportuni-
ties for the satisfaction of material, security, societal and personal
needs ofemployees.
Srna Mandic, in "The Changing Quality of Life during Transition' -
The Housing Component", discusses the changes between 1984 and
1994 in the housing properties, referring to physical attributes and
housing tenure characteristics .
Barbara Verlic Christensen, in "Quality of Life in the Living Environ-
ment of Slovenia", follows trends of urbanisation through an analysis
of urban standards in Slovenia and with reference to cyclical model of
development.
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11
Tadeja Kolenc and Meta Gnidovec describe the nature and charac-
teristics of Slovenian victims of crime in "Security of Life in Slovenia" .
The next three articles deal with various aspects of disadvantages
in life, the accumulation of deprivation, poverty, and their social con-
sequences. Nevenka Cernigoj Sadar and Alenka Bresar Iskra in "
Material Quality of Life in Various Life Cycles" focus on housing stan-
dards, financial resources, and the employment of seven groups in
various life cycle stages and their evaluations of living conditions .
Mojca Novak, in "Poverty: Facts and Feelings", considers objective
and subjective aspects of poverty . She compares the socio-structural
characteristics of those who are categorized as poor on the basis of
household income per head (below 50 percent of median) and those
who are categorized as poor on the basis of their reporting a lack of
money to make ends meet .
Martina Trbanc, in "Social Exclusion : The Concept and Data Indi-
cating Exclusion in Slovenia", describes the extent of the material,
social and interpersonal dimensions of exclusion and identifies the
demographic and other socio-economic aspects of most disadvan-
taged groups .
The last three articles discuss the themes of health, leisure and gen-
eral satisfaction with life, which are often treated as the results of
the quality of working life, personal relationships and living environ-
ment. Nevenka Cernigoj Sadar and Alenka Bresar Iskra, in "Determi-
nants of Self-reported Health", analyse within the biopsychosocial
model of health the demographic, social, economic and main behav-
ioural determinants of self-reported health .
Nevenka Cernigoj Sadar, in "Social and Material Determinants of
Leisure", examines patterns of activities during free time, evaluations
of leisure and aspirations for new activities . She analyses which
among demographic, material, family, residential and health factors
have the greatest influence on leisure time activities .
In "Satisfaction with Life and Work", Ivan Svetlik analyses the rela-
tionships between the available resources people have to satisfy
their needs and the general level of satisfaction with their lives. He
takes into account objective and subjective aspects of quality of life in
working, living environment and in private spheres .
In Part two of the monograph, the articles are based on dynamic
research design using event history analysis to describe and explain
the changes in the last twenty years in the areas of labour market,
work and education. Special attention is given to the period after the
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DR, Vol.XII(1996)22-23
independence of Slovenia and the transition to a market economy
accompanied by privatisation processes and radical changes in all
areas ofsocial policy .
Sonja Drobnic in "Labour Market Dynamic in Slovenia : Transitions
from Unemployment" analyses the characteristics of unemployment
episodes and factors influencing the transition from unemployment.
The author also gives a short description of event history analysis
approach .
Vojko Antoncic and Meta Gnidovec in "Work Career Defined by
Autonomy in Work" describe the process of changing autonomy in
work and factors influencing changes in autonomy status .
In "Investment in Education and Training and Shifts Between Jobs
in the Slovenian Labour market", by Angela Ivancic the character-
istics of transition rates from one job to another, intra-firm and inter-
firm job shifts and the influence of demographic, cohorts, period, edu-
cational, occupational factors on these transitions are presented.
In most articles the basic demographic and social stratification
dimensions are taken into account. The gender dimension is dis-
cussed in the articles on security, poverty, social exclusion, health,
leisure, unemployment, autonomy in work and education .
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NOTES
(1) In this introduction only the Scandinavian approach to the level of living and
quality of life has been mentioned because it represents the theoretical frame of refer-
ence for the Slovenian quality of life indicators . However, for understanding the soci-
ological aspect of quality of life, many other theoretical works are also relevant, to
mention just two : Doyale and Gough's Theory of Needs (1991) and contributions in
Quality of Life, a book edited by Nussbaum, M .C. and Sen. A . (1995) .
Those involved in the Quality of Life project in Slovenia have tried to relate the
Scandinavian approach to the recent theoretical discussions in specific fields of
research such as work, family, etc .
(2) The basic information on event- oriented observation and event history analysis
is given in the article by Sonja Drobnič in this monograph .
REFERENCES
Allardt, E . (1973), A Welfare Model for Selecting Indicators of National Development,
Policy Science, 4 .
Allardt, E . (1995), Having, Loving, Being: An Alternative to the Swedish Model of
Welfare Research, in Nussbaum, M . C. & Sen (Eds .), The Quality of Life, Claredon
Press, Oxford
Antončič, V ., Boh, K . (1991), Premise za raziskovanje kvalitete življenja (Premises
in researching the quality of life), Družboslovne razprave, Vol. 8, No . 12
Cernigoj Sadar, N . (Ed .) (1992), Quality of Life Studies, Bibliography 1983-1992,
Fakulteta za družbene vede, lnštitut za družbene vede, Bilten Centra za družbeno
blaginjo št.5, Ljubljana
Doyal, L ., Gough, 1 . (1991), A Theory of Human Needs, Macmillan, London
Erikson, R., Aberg,R. (1987), The Nature and Distribution of Welfare, in Erikson,
R., Aberg, R . (Eds .) Welfare in Transition, Claredon Press, Oxford
Maslow, A.H . (1954), Motivation and Personality, Harper and Row, New York
Mc Call, S. (1986), Human Needs and the Quality of Life, in Shea, W.R ., King-Far-
low, J . (Eds .), Values and the Quality of Life, Science History Publication, New York
Novak, M.(1995), Konceptualna vprašanja proučevanja kakovosti živjenja (Quality
of life conceptualisation), in Svetlik, 1 . (Ed .), Kvaliteta živjenja v Sloveniji, Fakulteta
za dru2bene vede Ljubljana
Nussbaum, M.C ., Sen, A.(Eds .),(1995), The Quality of Life, Claredon Press, Oxford
Rus, V.(1984), Kvaliteta življenja in država blaginje (The quality of life and the wel-
fare state), in Kvaliteta življenja, Slovensko sociološko društvo, Ljubljana
Svetlik, I . (Ed .), (1995), Kakovost življenja v Sloveniji (Quality of life in Slovenia),
Fakulteta za dru2bene vede, Ljubljana
Vehovar, V . (1995), Anketa o kakovosti živjenja v Sloveniji 1994
(Quality of Life 1994 questionnaire) :
Analiza vzorca (Analysis of a sample)
Raking,
FDV, lnštitut za družbene vede, Ljubljana, mimeo
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