Objective condition	vs.	Subjective condition
QOL is a condition external to its possessors' understandings and assessment. QOL is measured and evaluated using evidence independent of subjective perceptions. Examples: social indicators, social work.		QOL is a meaningful self-assessment of its possessors. QOL is measured and evaluated using subjective perceptions. Examples: life satisfaction, therapy.

 

 

Individual attribution	vs.	Collective attribution
QOL "belongs" to an individual. Aggregating measurements: collective QOL is an analytical construct that sums individual QOLs. Examples: psychology, survey research, utilitarianism.		QOL "belongs" to a group: household, community, society, etc. "More than the sum of its parts": collective QOL has systemic properties or dynamics that cannot be reduced to an individual level of analysis. Examples: ecology, urban planning, communitarianism.

 

 

Production of QOL	vs.	Distribution of QOL
QOL is understood and observed as the development of a potential. Focuses on the necessary (but often insufficient) causes and mechanisms of QOL. Examples: Technological innovations, household earnings, the value of "civilization."		QOL is understood and observed as the realization of an outcome. Focuses on the (often unequal) allocation and impacts of QOL. Examples: household expenditures, inequality, the value of "justice."

 

 

Universal understanding	vs.	Relativistic understanding
Presumes QOL can be validly compared across cultural, historical, and personal contexts. Emphasizes commonalities of QOL experience. Example: Historical-comparative analysis.		Presumes QOL cannot be validly compared across cultural, historical, and personal contexts. Emphasizes idiosyncratic adaptations to QOL circumstances. Example: ethnography, economics.

Source: Leonard Nevarez, Quality of Life (New York: Routledge, forthcoming).

 

 

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