56:824:721 Community & WellBeing (Happiness and Place)
http:theaok.github.io/swb
(56:834:650 special problems in pub pol and adm)
Fall 2025 Tue 6.00-8.50pm ATG-109
instructor
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn adam.okulicz.kozaryn@gmail.com
office: 321 Cooper St, room 302; office hours: Tue 4-5, and by
appointment, typically I am at my office most of Tue and Thu this semester
prerequisites: ability and drive to write a publishable research paper
The class is meant for advanced phd students, less advanced students
(MS etc) are welcomed, but the class is a lot of work (this is heavy research oriented class where the goal is to write a publishable paper).
course description
The main goal is for you to produce research on happiness (or other social
indicator such as freedom or trust). You will write a
journal paper, and possibly start your dissertation in this class.
Happiness, in addition to or even as opposed to income, is becoming
end goal and a key measure of development. Happiness, or scholarly
Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) is studied across social sciences--this
class focuses on data and geography. Much of the class is urban-rural and regional, and my
current focus: Colombia/Latin America.
SWB can be used to
address social problems--SWB is a measure (yardstick) of how
social problems affect human flourishing.
Some key social problems are: poverty, inequality, and consumerism / conspicuous consumption.
The class material is: theory, classic and key findings, and data and
quantitative findings. Your task will be to make use some of that
material in your own paper, write your own literature review, and in
most cases analyze data.
Social indicators field is extremely broad and
fits multitude of research across all social science:
in this class you'll be able to use happiness (or other social
indicators such as freedom or trust) to explore your existing research
interests (eg housing, education, religion).
I will customize a bit to your interests. The goal is ambitious: to produce publishable paper
[Don't worry if you are not quant! I can help you or indeed do the quant part for you if you do other parts]. Realistically, won't be able to send it to a journal by the end of the class, but I volunteer my time after the semester ends (ideally
should wrap it up within the following semester). The
requirement for an A is to have it almost publishable this semester.
The field main journals are:
Social Indicators Research
Applied Research in Quality of Life
Journal of Happiness Studies
also check out International
Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), 2026 regional
conference in March in Buenos Aires; summer main conference in Kentucky.
funding (do go for conferences, such as above isqols)
$500 from grad school:
https://graduateschool.camden.rutgers.edu/current-students/forms/
scroll down to research/travel grant
department's (DPPA) grant, please email dept's chair: Patrice Mareschal marescha@camden.rutgers.edu
chancellor's office (it says undergrad at the top, but description includes graduate as well):
https://camden.rutgers.edu/discover-camden/leadership/office-of-chancellor/student-research-grant
learning objectives/outcomes
learn the theory of happiness, and become familiar with few other social indicators
become familiar with wealth of data available; and analyze the data [not necessary!]
write a publishable paper
become happier (really!)
required textbook
Campbell A et al "The Quality of American Life: Perceptions, Evaluations, and
Satisfactions," used just $10! http://a.co/5ZExiLC
[also few hard-copies at ru libraries]
recommended books
Diener E et al "Well-Being for Public
Policy" used for $15+,
or read
online
(or this link)
Okulicz-Kozaryn A "Happiness and Place: Why Life is Better
Outside of the City." I will give you a copy of a draft of the
second edition
Rhonda Phillips and Cecilia Wong Editors "Handbook of Community Well-Being Research"
recommended datasets
https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/subject-librarians?keyword=&division=All&unit=All&specialization=351
Campbell
A free dataset accompanying
the book: can calculate and study everything from the book
yourself AND use these data for you final project! https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/3508
and followup dataset from 1978: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/7762
The website has full annual files and best is cumulative 1972-2020.
I cleaned it up and just retained a bunch of key vars
To find variables, just ctrl-f in cumulative codebook from GSS website
for a string you are interested in, say for happiness/life satisfaction do "happ" to
pick up both "happiness" and "happy" and for satisfaction "satis" to
pick up "satisfied" and "satisfaction." Or in stata "lookfor," eg
"lookfor inc" to find income variables.
gss72.do
If you do GSS, buy a book about GSS: "Social Trends in
American Life: Findings from the General Social Survey since 1972"
edited by Peter V. Marsden. Used $10 http://a.co/d/ewznUY4
Covers about 80 counties, 7 waves of data for many countries going back to
80s, a wonderful dataset to explore happiness internationally, and as
the name indicated the data is about values across the world. The above
website includes the data and codebooks, and again, probably most of
time want a cumulative dataset
TODO: post 2 rudimentary dofiles for raw, and cleaned up: lookfor, des, sum, table, graphs, reg
panels
difficult but comprehensive containing almost everything panels (need to be
great with data management):
psid,
add health and another add health link
If you want neighb/community level, see later class on community development a handful of papers about neighb lev swb in toronto
(free data), oslo, cali, etc
replication materials
luxury car owners are not happier replicateLsCar.zip
europeans work to live and americans live to work REPLICATION.tar.bz2
requirements/advice
2 keys to success: start early AND ask often many questions
There are 5 problem sets (ps)
. You may
work in groups (<=2), but indicate who you worked with,
and the more people in the group, the better the ps must be. The
group must submit only one ps (of course can and should also work
together informally and share ideas and collaborate and submit
separate ps). All ps are stepping stones to the final paper: outline, drafts, presentation(s).
You will write a paper: typically empirical, but can also be
theory or literature review. A typical paper will be 5 to 25
double spaced pages. Important!: To receive full credit, your paper
must be "publishable" and "ready" to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal at
the end of the course. Publish or perish!
grading
problem sets 50% (5ps x 10%)
paper 50%
calendar
when printing handouts you can print multiple slides per sheet (i
like 6) http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/332/332720.html#main_Print multiple
[*] = bonus (extra/not required)
sep2 intro
Overview of data
sources and discussion of your research interests: so that you can start working on paper from day 1.
ps0.pdf [in class on projector i open pdf in editpad.org
so can zoom in]
ps1.pdf
skim through doing literature review: you must be doing it in
this class in addition to assigned stuff, shoot for 50+ great refs asap: http://theaok.github.io/generic/howToGoogSch.html
shortIntroData.pdf [first thing in class introductions]
we flip the class and start working on ps0, discussion of YOUR
research interest as they relate to this class
final_project.pdf: 'inline response'
and TOC only
history, philosophy, validity, the 5 theories, classics
what is the field about?
diveIntoSWB.pdf
validity: skim through: campbell ch2,4, Diener at al "Theory and validity of life satisfaction scales"
campbell ch1, [*](diener ch1, okulicz-kozaryn sec1.2)
if time: look at your ps0!
[*] diener ch 2,5 [useful, important]
[*] diener ch 3-4
[*] Happiness in human history: McMahon D "Happiness: A history"
[*] Philosophers on happiness: Aristotle, Bentham and others.
ps2.pdf
start with mass email comments on ps0
Veenhoven's livability theory
Brickman's adaptation: lottery winners and paraplegics
Carvers happiness as motivator
campbell ch5-6 *(diener ch6, okulicz-kozaryn sec1.2.4)
[*] look at other readings cited in the slides, especially those interesting/relevant to you
public policy and community development
pubPol.pdf
ps overall quick discussion: hows projects??
Kahneman et al: how happy a person is during various activities: note commute and social capital
AOK Happiness Research for Public Policy and Administration
Sen
and Stiglitz "Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress": just skim through
[*] The science of happiness for policymakers: An overview. By Weijers, Dan
[*] Diener all chapters
[*] Hagerty MR et al "Quality of life indexes for national policy: Review and agenda for research."
sep30 ps1 presentations 10min (sharp i will cut you off) + 15min
discussion (in person as usual)
2025vid
ps3.pdf
wei and farah ps1 presentations
next week zoom
com.pdf
comSwb.pdf:
campbell ch7,ch12-14
check out my paper on happiness and pop growth across us
counties: pdf
and colab
read at home (as always ask q if
unclear) https://theaok.github.io/generic/howToPaper.html
we skim thru in class; fa25 dont get into stats as half of class
didnt take qm2
spend substantial portion of the class on how to move your
research forward into a publishable paper, may also discuss final_project.pdf
Shirley ps2 presentation
if time: look at replication of my papers from syl above
hows ps2 going?? email me asap!!
ps4.pdf
(10min sharp (ill cut you off): focus on
new stuff, esp results and findings (skip background)(+20min comments,discussion)
if time: look at replication of my papers from syl above
if time: review and wrap-up of what we did so far, especially the happiness theories and key points in public policy
happinessAndPlace.pdf
L Wirth: Urbanism as a Way of Life
AOK, Mazelis: Urbanism and happiness: A test of Wirths theory of urban life
flip the class, work on ps4
nov4 ps4 presentations (8min sharp (ill cut you off): focus on
new stuff, esp results and findings (skip background)(+10min
comments,discussion)
[old vid]
[vid]
ps5.pdf
15min Benito: Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires
(possibly plus Mariano Rojas)
nov11 materialism, consumerism, conspicuous consumption
[old vid]
first flip the class and work on papers, discuss my comments;
QandA; general ps comments in con.pdf
con.pdf
my paper, read it, or at list skim through: https://theaok.github.io/docs/gssLonnieRubia-lg-nov11.pdf
[*] Veblen T "Conspicuous consumption" and "The theory of the leisure class; an economic study of institutions"
[*] Leonard A "The story of stuff: How our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities, and our health-and a vision for change"
[*] Kasser T et al "A dark side of the American dream: correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration."
[*] Kasser T "The high price of materialism"
[*] Frank RH "The Darwin economy: Liberty, competition, and the common good"
nov18
[half of class could not make it so moved to zoom]
[old vid]
pick up with ditch consumption slide from last week
nov25 no class! Change in Designation of Class Day: Observe THURSDAY schedule
dec2 happiness in Latin America
[old vid]
read before the
class: Colombia: Unlivable but Happy. Fools Paradise? (No, a Real Paradise, Better than the US)
wrap up everything we did so far, especially
revisit diveIntoSWB.pdf
discuss your projects: anyone mini-presentation?
final_project.pdf
if time: my research in pictures
first 15 min of class (and 25min discussion) Angela: livability from Veenhovens perspective (several
articles by veenhoven incl 2024 "Happiness in urban environments: what we know and dont know yet")
maybe: Wei "McMahon--Happiness: A History"
again: publishing is critical: publish or perish: if we didnt
manage to submit this to a journal, lets not have our time
wasted, and continue working after the class
wrap up everything we did so far, especially
revisit diveIntoSWB.pdf: slides:
money, definition an following through 5 theories
final paper due:dec10 10pm
rules
do not share or link to class videos!
These videocasts and podcasts are the exclusive copyrighted property of Rutgers University and the Professor teaching the course. Rutgers University and the Professor grant you a license only to replay them for your own personal use during the course. Sharing them with others (including other students), reproducing, distributing, or posting any part of them elsewhere -- including but not limited to any internet site -- will be treated as a copyright violation and an offense against the honesty provisions of the Code of Student Conduct. Furthermore, for Law Students, this will be reported by the Law School to the licensing authorities in any jurisdiction in which you may apply to the bar.
attendance
Attendance is recommended. Be advised that you are
responsible for any material covered in the class, whether or not it was in the readings or
lecture notes. You are also responsible for any announcements made in class. For most
students, attendance is simply essential to learning the material. If you do need to miss a
class, be sure to consult with a fellow student to learn what transpired.
incompletes: Generally speaking, the material in this course is best learned as a single unit. I
will grant incompletes only in cases where a substantial change in life circumstances occurs that
is beyond the control of the student, and only with appropriate
documentation.
study groups. You are encouraged to form a regular study group. Many students over the years
have found the study groups to be very helpful. Study groups are permitted and encouraged to
work on the problem sets together. However, each individual student should write up his or her
own answer to hand in, based on his or her own understanding of the material. Do not hand in a
copy of another person’s problem set, even a member of your own group. Writing up your own
answer helps you to internalize the group discussions and is a crucial step in the learning process.
AI
May actually start with AI: in assignment submit in appendix both prompt and output (and AI name: chatGPT, Gemini, etc), then refine that and submit as assignment.
Always be explicit about AI and cite, either whether fully AI written or only initial draft.
Academic Integrity. I am very serious about this. Make no
mistake--I may appear accommodating and informal--but I am extremely
strict about academic integrity. Violations of academic integrity include cheating on tests or handing in
assignments that do not reflect your own work and/or the work of a study group in which you
actively participated. Handing in your own work that was performed not
for this class (e.g. other class, any other project) is cheating,
too. I have a policy of zero tolerance for cheating. Violations will be referred
to the appropriate university authorities.
For more information see http://fas.camden.rutgers.edu/student-experience/academic-integrity-policy
Accommodating Students with Disabilities.
Any student with a disability affecting performance in the class
should contact the disability office ASAP: https://success.camden.rutgers.edu/success-services/disability-services/
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