Baylor and Harvard Researchers Partner in Long-Term, Global Study of Human Flourishing
PR92643
WACO, Texas, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
-- Researchers at Harvard University and Baylor University launch the largest
initiative of its kind to investigate the determinants of human flourishing.
-- "The Global Flourishing Study" is a $43.4 million, five-year annual study of
240,000 individuals in 22 countries across a broad range of well-being outcomes.
Social and biomedical scientists at Harvard University and Baylor University
have joined forces to launch the largest initiative of its kind to investigate
the factors that influence human flourishing. This $43.4 million initiative --
"The Global Flourishing Study" (GFS) -- will involve a five-year study of
240,000 individuals, representing 22 countries globally, with annual data
collection across a broad range of well-being outcomes. This effort includes
the data collection and management expertise of Gallup and the stakeholder
coordination and open science leadership of the Center for Open Science.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1672165/GFS_baylor_University.jpg
What does it mean to live well? To be truly healthy? To thrive? Researchers and
clinicians have typically answered these questions by focusing on the presence
or absence of various pathologies: disease, family dysfunction, mental illness,
or criminal behavior. But such a "deficits" approach tells only so much about
what makes for a life well-lived -- about what it means to flourish.
"The Global Flourishing Study is exactly the type of work needed to deeply
understand the interplay of key elements in human experience that help us live
well, be happy, and experience a sense of meaning and purpose," said project
co-director Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb
Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Human Flourishing Program (
) at Harvard, who has published important articles on the assessment of human
flourishing in leading scientific journals such as JAMA and the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences. "The longitudinal research design will allow
us to substantially advance scientific knowledge on the determinants of human
flourishing."
Project director Dr. Byron Johnson, Distinguished Professor of the Social
Sciences and Director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (
) at Baylor, also commented on the data's significance for better understanding
the role of religion in a global context: "It's an extraordinary opportunity
for the Baylor-Harvard team to lead a panel study like this. Because our sample
size is so large, we will be able to examine all of the world's great religions
and the role, if any, that they play in human flourishing."
The panel will include individuals from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the
Philippines, Poland, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Ukraine,
the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Over the next five-plus years, the team will analyze longitudinal data on the
patterns, determinants, and social, psychological, spiritual, political,
economic, and health-related constituents and causes of human flourishing.
"There are several examples of probability-based, nationally representative
studies that track the same respondents over time in a single country,"
explained Dr. Rajesh Srinivasan, Global Research Director of the Gallup World
Poll, "but few have attempted to cover multiple countries. The scope of this
project is unprecedented and likely to yield valuable insights for global
survey research using this type of methodology."
Questionnaire design underwent extensive development and feedback, including
months of work on question refinement, translation, cognitive testing, and
piloting. That work is summarized in a detailed report from Gallup (
).
The research team will partner with the Center for Open Science to make the
data from the Global Flourishing Study an open-access resource so researchers,
journalists, policymakers, and educators worldwide can probe detailed
information about what makes for a flourishing life. Dr. David Mellor, Director
of Policy from the Center for Open Science, commented, "The rigor and
transparency applied to its analysis will increase trust in the research that
comes from this work, and will lower barriers to worldwide, equitable access to
this information. We couldn't be more pleased to partner with these teams to
support this process."
Overall, the goal is to build a mature field of study around the science of
human flourishing, producing research findings that will influence the
direction of social and health policy. As Gallup's CEO Jim Clifton remarked,
"The Global Flourishing Study is a methodological innovation that can truly
change the world -- truly change how the world is led." VanderWeele echoed
these sentiments: "This is a tremendous opportunity. We are so excited to see
what we, and other researchers around the globe, will learn."
Given its scope, joint support from a consortium of funders was needed to make
the Global Flourishing Study financially viable, including support from the
John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the Templeton World
Charity Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the Paul Foster Family Foundation,
the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation, Well Being Trust, and the David &
Carol Myers Foundation.
Along with Johnson and VanderWeele, members of the Baylor-Harvard team include
Drs. Matt Bradshaw, Merve Balkaya-Ince, Brendan Case, Ying Chen, Alex Fogleman,
Sung Joon Jang, Philip Jenkins, Thomas Kidd, Matthew T. Lee, Jeff Levin, Tim
Lomas, Katelyn Long, Van Pham, Sarah Schnitker, John Ssozi, Robert Woodberry,
and George Yancey.
About Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion
Launched in 2004, Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion (
) (ISR) initiates, supports, and conducts research on religion, involving
scholars and projects spanning the intellectual spectrum: history, psychology,
sociology, economics, anthropology, political science, philosophy,
epidemiology, theology, and religious studies. Our mandate extends to all
religions, everywhere, and throughout history, and embraces the study of
religious effects on prosocial behavior, family life, population health,
economic development, and social conflict. While always striving for
appropriate scientific objectivity, our scholars treat religion with the
respect sacred matters require and deserve.
About Harvard's Human Flourishing Program
Founded in 2016, the Human Flourishing Program (
) at Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social Science aims to study and
promote human flourishing, and to develop systematic approaches to the
synthesis of knowledge across disciplines. The program's research contributes
to the broad question of how knowledge from the quantitative social sciences
can be integrated with that of the humanities on questions of human flourishing
and how best to carry out this synthesis of knowledge across disciplines. The
program hopes to bring greater unity to the empirical social sciences and the
humanities. The program produces research publications and sponsors educational
activities, such as courses, seminars, and conferences, for the Harvard
University community all aimed at bringing knowledge together across
disciplines and reflecting upon how knowledge from different disciplines might
form a coherent whole.
About Gallup
Gallup (
) is a global analytics and advice firm with more than 80 years of experience
measuring public opinion and human development. In the organization's own
research and in working partnerships with government, nonprofit and
philanthropic organizations, Gallup develops indicators to measure key global
development and social responsibility indicators over time.
About the Center for Open Science
Founded in 2013, COS is a nonprofit culture change organization with a mission
to increase openness, integrity, and reproducibility of scientific research.
COS pursues this mission by building communities around open science practices,
supporting metascience research, and developing and maintaining free, open
source software tools, including the Open Science Framework (OSF) (
). Learn more at cos.io (
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3336874-2&h=1276205086&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cos.io%2F&a=cos.io
).
Contact: Alex Fogleman, Ph.D., GFS Project Manager, Institute for Studies of
Religion, Baylor University, Alex_Fogleman@baylor.edu
SOURCE Baylor University
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