MEASURING THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE POPULATION: SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE APPROACHES

Relevance. The article is devoted to the issue of scientific measurement of the quality of life of the population. The relevance of this issue is determined by the need to overcome the differences in modern science in the interpretations of the concept of «quality of life». The aim: systematization of research concepts of quality of life in sociology and related sciences. Methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific literature. Results. The novelty of the work lies in the formulation of a universal, integrative definition of the concept of «quality of life», which would not contradict the interpretations existing in scientific practice, but, on the contrary, synthesize them. The following definition is proposed: quality of life is a comprehensive subjective-objective characteristic of the existence of society, which is expressed in the level of satisfaction of its current needs and can be measured both by objective indicators of the adequacy of resources to satisfy the needs of society, and by subjective assessments of the level of satisfaction of their own needs by members of this society. As a result of a detailed study and systematization of various concepts of quality of life, the author concludes that there are two main scientific ways of measuring this phenomenon – subjective and objective. The reasoning of the conclusion is given that the subjective way of measuring the quality of life of the population is to measure its social well-being (subjective well-being, satisfaction with the quality of life, level of happiness, or harmony), and the objective way of measuring the quality of life of the population is to measure the standard of living. Findings. The distinction between subjective and objective methods of measuring the quality of life of the population allows not only explaining the reasons for the discrepancies in the definitions of the concept of «quality of life», but also proposing a universal definition. Refining the measurement method when designing quality of life indicators avoids confusion in interpretations, and to achieve the most accurate measurement result, subjective and objective indicators must be analyzed. To systematically measure the quality of life of the population, a comparison of objective and subjective indicators is necessary. Objective indicators are an external (expert) assessment of the adequacy of resources that are necessary to meet the needs underlying a high quality of life, and subjective ones as a measure of how these needs are met in terms of their carriers. A minimum list of necessary and mandatory areas for assessing the quality of life is proposed, taking into account its objective and subjective nature: work, financial situation, age, family, personal desires, social status, education, state. It is assumed that such a system of indicators not only allows taking into account the subjective-objective nature of the phenomenon of quality of life as an indicator of the degree of satisfaction of human needs, but also makes it possible to make a full comparison of the results of measuring the quality of life of different subjects.