1. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Where Do Young Adults Live and Why? Combining Quality of Life [QOL] Measures with Geographic Information Systems [GIS] To Understand Our World
Patrick H. Buckley
Geography
Huxley Environmental College
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA USA
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

2. WHERE DO YOUNG PEOPLE LIVE?
Talk Outline
WHERE DO YOUNG PEOPLE LIVE?
DEFINE QOL AND GIS
REVIEW RESEARCH METHODS
INVESTIGATE YOUNG PEOPLE
CONCLUDING REMARKS
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

3. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Part 1
DEFINE QOL AND GIS
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

4. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
WHAT IS QUALITY OF LIFE
Define QOL
View Examples
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

5. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
QOL Definition
QOL: Sense of Satisfaction (Happiness, Pleasure, Well Being…) with the Environment in which a group lives
Implies that the Goods and Services and Social Constructs available in an environment create the feeling of statisfaction
The lack of these and/or the existence of Bads indicates a lower quality of life then desired
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

6. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
QOL High
High quality of life includes
Access to Goods, Services and Participation:
Food, Clothing, Housing
Education
Opportunities for Social Participation
Political Empowerment
Social and Economic Equality
Security
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

7. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
QOL Low
Low Quality of Life implies
Shortages of Goods, Inadequate Services, and Alienation:
Hungry, Cold, Wet
Uneducated
Discrimination and Inequality
Powerless and Underemployed
Fear, Anger, Despair
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

8. Focus of Studies Today Include
Private Sector
Marketing
Real Estate
Internet
Resource Management
Public Sector
Education
Facility Management
Policy and Planning
Environment
Other
Best Places, Schools, Locations
Aging Population
Children
Political Parties
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

9. Geographically QOL Studies are preformed at various scales
Globally:
Country
Continent
Environmental region
Nationally:
Prefecture
State
County
Locally:
Neighborhood
Ward
Block
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

10. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
QOL Examples From WWW
ASIAWEEK.com: Asia’s Best Cities
Children’s Rights Council: Best US State to Raise a Child
Save the Children: Mother’s Index and Country Rating
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

11. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

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15. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Summary
QOL Index measures SATISFACTION
QOL can look at many questions, groups, and places
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

16. WHAT IS GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Define GIS
View Example
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

17. Define Geographic Information System [GIS]
A Geographic Analytical Tool that:
1. Builds a Spatial Database
2. Investigates and Analyzes a problem
3. Provides Results as Maps, Tables, Graphs, and Reports
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

18. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Geographic
Information linked to location
where things are located is important
Problems linked to place
cities, towns, countries, prefectures, neighborhoods…
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

19. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Information
Data collected from people, governments, companies, organizations…
Data analyzed to understand and answer questions using:
statistical analysis
map analysis
models
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

20. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
System
Starts with a problem
Ends with a solution
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

21. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Example of a GIS
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

22. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Part 2
RESEARCH METHOD
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

23. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Studying our world
How we do this
Why this is useful
Why study Young People
Using QOL Measures
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

24. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
How to study our world
Step 1: Describe
Step 2: Predict
Step 3: Prescribe
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

25. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Why is this useful?
Describe: Understand what is
Describe the current world
Look for patterns, relationships, correlation
Predict: Guess at what we can’t see
Predict the future
Predict other places
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

26. Why is this useful?continued
Prescribe: Suggest how to change the world
Prescribe steps to take
Make the world better
Final Result
We are more satisfied
QOL increases
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

27. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Why study Young People
Young People (18 to 29 years old) are the FUTURE
Young People are Free to seek High QOL
By Understanding the Young we can predict our future
By Understanding the Young we can change our future --Make it Better
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

28. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Using QOL Measures
1. Describes Satisfied/Unsatisfied parts of World
2. Helps Predict Future Satisfaction/ Dissatisfaction
Where and When
3. Helps Prescribe how to make the World more Satisfied
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

29. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Step 1: Describe What Is
Set an Objective
Choose a Place and Group to Study
Understand what is there
Ask Questions -- New Data
Gather Existing Information -- Old Data
Organize and Summarize the data
Present the results as Tables, Maps, Charts...
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

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31. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

32. An Example of Describing QOL
Objective: Understand QOL of Student Housing
Choose: Students at Meiji University
Understand -- Fill-out a Questionnaire
Organize and Summarize the data
Present the results as Tables, Maps, Graphs...
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

33. PAUSE FOR HANDS-ON WORK

34. Step 2: Predict --What will be
Analyze Descriptions and Make Predictions (Ideas or Models about the world)
Test your Predictions (Ideas)
Use statistics, maps, other tools...
Do your Ideas work?
YES - go to Step 3: Prescribe
NO - go back to Step 1: Describe
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

35. An Example of Prediction
Analyze a GIS DESCRIPTION of young people in the USA
Make a Hypothesis of the reason
Test the Hypothesis (Ideas)
Do your Ideas work?
YES, then step completed
NO, look at the description again
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

36. Step 3: Prescribe --What can be
Learn from the Prediction Model
What QOL variables cause change
Adjust those QOL variables and create a new prediction
Continue to adjust the QOL variables until the future outcome is the desired outcome
Apply the suggested changes to world
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

37. INVESTIGATE WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVE IN USA
Part 3
INVESTIGATE WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE LIVE IN USA
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

38. INVESTIGATE YOUNG PEOPLE IN USA
State Level Investigation
County Level
Conversion to Points
Predict a Relationship
Conclusions
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

39. State Level Investigation
Calculate the % of Young People in an State
# Young People/ Total Population * 100
17 Young/ 100 People * 100 = 17%
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

40. State Level Investigation continued
Divide the results into 5 quantiles (equal size groups) with increasing Percentage of Young People
50 state/ 5 groups = 10 states/group
Map results and investigate
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

41. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

42. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

43. County Level Investigation
Repeat work at County Level: Calculate the % of Young People in a County
# Young People/ Total Population * 100
17 Young/ 100 People * 100 = 17%
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

44. County Level Investigation continued
Divide the results into 5 quantiles (equal size groups) with increasing Percentage of Young People
3,138 counties/ 5 groups =
627 (approx.) counties/group
Map results and investigate
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

45. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

46. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

47. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Conversion to Points
Represent Counties as Points instead of Areas (Easier to Read)
Map and Investigate
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

48. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

49. Predict a Relationship
Hypothesis (My Idea): Young People like to live near large cities
QOL is higher
more jobs
more entertainment
more exciting
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

50. Predict a Relationship continued
Test Hypothesis (My Idea): Map out 40 largest cities and find percentage of Young People living near each
use 30 mile radius for search area
intersect percent young with search area
map and graph results
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

51. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

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53. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Conclusions
Young People prefer to live near Big Cities
Fewer Young People live in the countryside
Next Research Question: How can we keep young people in the countryside???
Improve QOL in countryside???
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

54. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
Part 4
CONCLUDING REMARKS
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults

55. QOL-- Where are the Young Adults
CONCLUDING REMARKS
QOL studies help us to understand our world
GIS is an excellent way of understanding patterns of QOL across places
More work needs to be done to:
understand our Young People
improve our world and create a better future
QOL-- Where are the Young Adults