Social Well-Being in Vietnam : Designing and Preliminary Results from a Sampling Survey

The main intent of this paper is to summarize the process of the 2015 sampling survey on social well-being in Vietnam (SWB survey), which was a part of the Senshu-led Consortium on social well-being research in Asia. The survey was carried out by a research team from the Institute of Sociology of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, in order to measure the level of happiness and life satisfaction among Vietnamese adults currently living in the country's Northern, Central, and Southern regions. With a sample size of 1,202 men and women aged 20 and over, the survey sample represented the national population structure in terms of age and sex, as well as rural-urban breakdown. Data quality control was ensured through careful training of interviewers, questionnaire design and pre-test, and strict supervision in the field to ensure a high response rate. Preliminary results showed a fairly high level of happiness of the respondents. Although Vietnam is still a developing country characterized by low income and many hardships, the results suggest that cultural norms and values, national tradition, and other non-economic factors have a significant influence on high life satisfaction. The paper concludes with a strong recommendation for undertaking in-depth and comprehensive analyses, utilizing the 2015 SWB data, particularly in comparative perspectives with Japan, South Korea, and other Asian country members of the SWB Consortium.