Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia

This study was carried out to develop a set of indicators for measuring and reporting the state of family well-being in Malaysia, and subsequently, to produce an Index of Family Well-Being. To build the set of indicators, domains of family well-being and relevant indicators were identified from past...

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Main Authors: Noor, Noraini M., Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli, Ishak, Ismahalil, Wok, Saodah
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Springer 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/1/2012-Social_Indicators_Research.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/4/27868_Development%20of%20indicators_SCOPUS.pdf
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spelling iium-278682017-09-19T04:20:41Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/ Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia Noor, Noraini M. Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli Ishak, Ismahalil Wok, Saodah HQ503 The family. Marriage. Home This study was carried out to develop a set of indicators for measuring and reporting the state of family well-being in Malaysia, and subsequently, to produce an Index of Family Well-Being. To build the set of indicators, domains of family well-being and relevant indicators were identified from past studies. Focus group discussions with families, professional groups and NGOs helped to refine the indicators prior to the main study. Using a stratified random sampling design, 2,808 households were identified (a parent and a child aged at least 13 years), making a total sample of 5,616 respondents. Results indicated ten key indicators that can predict family well-being—resiliency, safety, savings, healthy lifestyle, time with family, work-family balance, importance of religion, number of bedrooms at home, debt and child care—supporting the notion of family well-being being multi-dimensional and interconnected. On the basis of the results, a model of family wellbeing was hypothesized. This model was used to guide the development of the Index of Family Well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to determine the fit of the model to data. Five domains of family well-being were identified—family relationships, economic situation, health and safety, community relationship and religion/spirituality. The Index of Family Well-Being was calculated using the equal weighting strategy to each of these five domains. This index showed that the current family wellbeing of Malaysians is relatively high at 7.95 (SD = 1.38) on a 0–10 Likert response format. The findings suggest that family well-being is multifaceted, made up not only of the immediate family relationships and health and safety of its members, but include having adequate income to meet the demands of a minimum standard of living. Currently, the Index that is developed is only in the form of a numerical value reflecting the state of family well-being, but in future, it can be used to track changes in the family from time to time. Springer 2014 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/1/2012-Social_Indicators_Research.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/4/27868_Development%20of%20indicators_SCOPUS.pdf Noor, Noraini M. and Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli and Ishak, Ismahalil and Wok, Saodah (2014) Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia. Social Indicators Research, 115 (1). pp. 279-318. ISSN 0303-8300 (p), 1573-0921 (online) http://link.springer.com/journal/11205 DOI 10.1007/s11205-012-0219-1
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic HQ503 The family. Marriage. Home
spellingShingle HQ503 The family. Marriage. Home
Noor, Noraini M.
Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli
Ishak, Ismahalil
Wok, Saodah
Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
description This study was carried out to develop a set of indicators for measuring and reporting the state of family well-being in Malaysia, and subsequently, to produce an Index of Family Well-Being. To build the set of indicators, domains of family well-being and relevant indicators were identified from past studies. Focus group discussions with families, professional groups and NGOs helped to refine the indicators prior to the main study. Using a stratified random sampling design, 2,808 households were identified (a parent and a child aged at least 13 years), making a total sample of 5,616 respondents. Results indicated ten key indicators that can predict family well-being—resiliency, safety, savings, healthy lifestyle, time with family, work-family balance, importance of religion, number of bedrooms at home, debt and child care—supporting the notion of family well-being being multi-dimensional and interconnected. On the basis of the results, a model of family wellbeing was hypothesized. This model was used to guide the development of the Index of Family Well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to determine the fit of the model to data. Five domains of family well-being were identified—family relationships, economic situation, health and safety, community relationship and religion/spirituality. The Index of Family Well-Being was calculated using the equal weighting strategy to each of these five domains. This index showed that the current family wellbeing of Malaysians is relatively high at 7.95 (SD = 1.38) on a 0–10 Likert response format. The findings suggest that family well-being is multifaceted, made up not only of the immediate family relationships and health and safety of its members, but include having adequate income to meet the demands of a minimum standard of living. Currently, the Index that is developed is only in the form of a numerical value reflecting the state of family well-being, but in future, it can be used to track changes in the family from time to time.
format Article
author Noor, Noraini M.
Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli
Ishak, Ismahalil
Wok, Saodah
author_facet Noor, Noraini M.
Doshi-Gandhi, Anjli
Ishak, Ismahalil
Wok, Saodah
author_sort Noor, Noraini M.
title Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
title_short Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
title_full Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
title_fullStr Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Development of indicators for family well-being in Malaysia
title_sort development of indicators for family well-being in malaysia
publisher Springer
publishDate 2014
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/1/2012-Social_Indicators_Research.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/27868/4/27868_Development%20of%20indicators_SCOPUS.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T20:41:17Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T20:41:17Z
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