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I guess I'd place Gallup as more valid as they're going by reported happiness while this study is taking things like "the weather" or "the housing market" and is apparently using data over four-years-old.
I guess I'd place Gallup as more valid as they're going by reported happiness while this study is taking things like "the weather" or "the housing market" and is apparently using data over four-years-old.
Just putting this survey out there on C-D.
Although I think the housing market plays into ones overall feeling of security & thus happiness.
Georgia at #19, not bad. Kind of the middle, but in the better half. I was surprised at how low California is ranked, because I thought the weather keeps everyone happy there. But maybe its the affordability and economy that keeps everyone down. And New York is the least happy? I would think one of the rust belt states would be worse off, along with New Jersey.
I guess I'd place Gallup as more valid as they're going by reported happiness while this study is taking things like "the weather" or "the housing market" and is apparently using data over four-years-old.
Actually the study referenced in the OP stressed the question to over 1.3 million people asking if they were happy. They did take other factors into account but made a point that people saying they were happy was the most important .
The Gallup poll asked about 50,000 people if they were happy most of the day before.
I knew any list that had Florida toward the top would bring out those questioning the validity.
Here is what the researchers had to say
Quote:
"Florida and two other sunshine states made it to the Top 5, while Minnesota doesn't show up until number 26 on the list of happiest states. In addition to rating the smile factor of U.S. states, the research also proved for the first time that a person's self-reported happiness matches up with objective measures of well-being.
Essentially, if an individual says they're happy, they are.
"When human beings give you an answer on a numerical scale about how satisfied they are with their lives, it is best to pay attention. Their answers are reliable," said Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. "This suggests that life-satisfaction survey data might be very useful for governments to use in the design of economic and social policies," Oswald said.
The happy-states list, however, doesn't match up with a similar ranking reported last month, which found that the most tolerant and wealthiest states were, on average, the happiest. Oswald says this past is based on raw averages of people's happiness in a state, and so doesn't provide meaningful results.
"That study cannot control for individual characteristics," Oswald told LiveScience. "In other words, all anyone has been able to do is to report the averages state-by-state, and the problem with doing that is you're not comparing apples with apples because the people who live in New York City are nothing like the individuals living in Montana."
I have been in Florida for 20 years and lived in NYC for 25 before that. Even though you may see a contingent of complainers on here and meet some on the streets (if you happen to be in FL), I know from my experience Floridians are generally very happy.
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