Making Measurements Matter: Barriers and Opportunities for Institutionalizing Wellbeing Metrics
(2026) SGEM08 20261Department of Human Geography
- Abstract
- This project investigates the barriers and opportunities of institutionalizing wellbeing metrics by examining how actors across different scales understand and use wellbeing data generated through the Nova Scotia Quality of Life (NSQoL) Survey. The NSQoL Survey is administered by a non-profit organization, Engage Nova Scotia, and includes 200+ questions measuring a broad range of wellbeing dimensions. When administered in 2019, nearly 13,000 Nova Scotians participated, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive quality of life datasets of its kind. Despite the richness of this dataset and international recognition, substantive uptake within provincial and municipal governments has remained limited. This gap between data... (More)
- This project investigates the barriers and opportunities of institutionalizing wellbeing metrics by examining how actors across different scales understand and use wellbeing data generated through the Nova Scotia Quality of Life (NSQoL) Survey. The NSQoL Survey is administered by a non-profit organization, Engage Nova Scotia, and includes 200+ questions measuring a broad range of wellbeing dimensions. When administered in 2019, nearly 13,000 Nova Scotians participated, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive quality of life datasets of its kind. Despite the richness of this dataset and international recognition, substantive uptake within provincial and municipal governments has remained limited. This gap between data availability and institutional use reveals barriers that shape whether and how wellbeing metrics are mobilized in regional governance.
This thesis draws on 24 semi-structured interviews with individuals in government and community leadership roles, to investigate the factors that influence the uptake, interpretation, and use of wellbeing data in Nova Scotia, Canada. In doing so, the thesis also examines the extent to which wellbeing metrics contribute to a shift away from growth-oriented development frameworks, and the broader role of wellbeing data in shaping public policy and post-growth transitions. This study found that wellbeing metrics are mobilized by regional actors in different ways across scales. At the municipal level, capacity for data analysis and resources are limited, but actors appear to be more responsive to the broader wellbeing narrative as it aligns with existing ideas of economic development. While at the provincial level, analytical capacity is stronger, but bureaucratic fragmentation and political short-termism limit implementation. This study found broad support for wellbeing metrics but minimal instrumental use of the NSQoL data, suggesting that the main barrier in practice is not normative opposition but weak institutional pathways through which wellbeing metrics can take root. Findings suggest that framing wellbeing metrics through an economic lens might offer a foothold for indicators to find their place in regional institutions, along with the need for building organizational capacity such that wellbeing indicators have institutional 'homes' where they can meaningfully inform decision-making. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9235545
- author
- Bout, Erika LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SGEM08 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- wellbeing, beyond GDP, wellbeing economy, wellbeing measures, policy, wellbeing metric institutionalization
- language
- English
- id
- 9235545
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-15 11:15:49
- date last changed
- 2026-06-15 11:15:49
@misc{9235545,
abstract = {{This project investigates the barriers and opportunities of institutionalizing wellbeing metrics by examining how actors across different scales understand and use wellbeing data generated through the Nova Scotia Quality of Life (NSQoL) Survey. The NSQoL Survey is administered by a non-profit organization, Engage Nova Scotia, and includes 200+ questions measuring a broad range of wellbeing dimensions. When administered in 2019, nearly 13,000 Nova Scotians participated, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive quality of life datasets of its kind. Despite the richness of this dataset and international recognition, substantive uptake within provincial and municipal governments has remained limited. This gap between data availability and institutional use reveals barriers that shape whether and how wellbeing metrics are mobilized in regional governance.
This thesis draws on 24 semi-structured interviews with individuals in government and community leadership roles, to investigate the factors that influence the uptake, interpretation, and use of wellbeing data in Nova Scotia, Canada. In doing so, the thesis also examines the extent to which wellbeing metrics contribute to a shift away from growth-oriented development frameworks, and the broader role of wellbeing data in shaping public policy and post-growth transitions. This study found that wellbeing metrics are mobilized by regional actors in different ways across scales. At the municipal level, capacity for data analysis and resources are limited, but actors appear to be more responsive to the broader wellbeing narrative as it aligns with existing ideas of economic development. While at the provincial level, analytical capacity is stronger, but bureaucratic fragmentation and political short-termism limit implementation. This study found broad support for wellbeing metrics but minimal instrumental use of the NSQoL data, suggesting that the main barrier in practice is not normative opposition but weak institutional pathways through which wellbeing metrics can take root. Findings suggest that framing wellbeing metrics through an economic lens might offer a foothold for indicators to find their place in regional institutions, along with the need for building organizational capacity such that wellbeing indicators have institutional 'homes' where they can meaningfully inform decision-making.}},
author = {{Bout, Erika}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Making Measurements Matter: Barriers and Opportunities for Institutionalizing Wellbeing Metrics}},
year = {{2026}},
}