http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/24/aberdeen-happiest-place-scotland
Not much to say there, but this bit stood out to me:
QuoteIn particular, I wanted to know how he felt about Aberdeen having just been revealed as one of the three happiest locations in the UK – Oxford and Reading/Bracknell were the others – and the most contented in Scotland.
I've been to Bracknell, twice, and it was one of the dourest, most depressing places I had the misfortune to visit. If this is one of the hapiest locations: Is the UK really that bad? :(
Bracknell is considered to be a pearl beyond price, it is the aspiration of all British people to move there :P
Let me rephrase that, I've never heard anyone put in a good word for Bracknell; the only positive thing I can think of is that unemployment is below the national average, but the last time I checked was back in the 1980s so even that might not be true.
Well, the so called high street was a mess of small, dingy shops that all closed at 5pm. Heck, the BK closed at 7pm! Pubs were squalid to say the least, and the youths hanging out on the street in front of kebab stands weren't exactly confidence inspiring, either.
Not to mention the people you see shambling about in daylight (though to be fair - not much different than the small towns in Germany I lived in). Might be that living there is nice, and that Reading itself is a charming place besides the business parks.
If you pick the right (sic) metrics, you too can come up with counter-intuitive results and get your study in the paper.
These happiness surveys are a regular feature in the UK press, but the results are different every time. Look at these two, both reported in the Daily Mail :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1050157/Britains-happiest-places-list.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100600/Happiness-survey-Finds-9-10-unhappiest-towns-south.html
In one list Harrogate is 213th and in the other 4th happiest :cool: Maybe it was raining one day and not the other, or it was Monday morning in one and Friday evening in the other.
These surveys do have one great use though, they are great spacefillers for idle journalists. They are easily spun too, headlines such as "Scotland most miserable part of the UK" or "Impoverished Northerners happier than miserable wealthy Southerners" will lure people in, even though they all know it is really codswallop.
Nigeria is routinely the happiest place on the planet in studies. So.... I guess the people who are actually willing to stay in shitholes like aberdeen must be incurable optimists.