Constructing perceived quality of life indices: A case study of the Brisbane-South East Queensland Region

Using the Brisbane-South East Queensland Region – a rapidly growing metropolis in the Sunbelt region of Australia, this study adopts a ‘subjective-well being approach’ to explore a range of techniques for mapping inter-regional variability. The data about perceived quality of life measured in various life satisfaction domains were collected via a metropolitan-wide probability sample social survey. Using various aggregation operators – ‘Max’, ‘Min’, ‘average’, exponential and maximum entropy, five Quality of Life indices based on a ‘ordered weighted average’, a non-linear aggregation technique, were developed. It is concluded that the quality of life across the Brisbane-SEQ region varies with substantial differences exhibited across different weighting regimes.