The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard makes use of existing data sets and also aims to create new data resources to better study human flourishing. Some of the major data resources we have developed, or are developing, that make use of at least two waves of individual-level data, are described below.
Our Studies and Data
Global Flourishing Study
The Global Flourishing Study is a longitudinal research study being carried out in collaboration between scholars at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard and Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and in partnership with Gallup and the Center for Open Science. The study will involve data collection for approximately 240,000 participants, from 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries, with nationally representative samples within each country, and with annual data collection on the same panel of individuals, with a rich set of survey items, for five waves of data. 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, and will include a rich set of questions on well-being along with demographic, social, economic, political, religious, personality, childhood, community, health and character-based questions. The Global Flourishing Study will be an open-access data resource and the first wave of data collected in 2022. A full report on the survey development process from Gallup is available and the final set of questions that will be used in the Global Flourishing Study can be found in Appendix 2 of that report (p. 43-52). The study will have the potential to transform and dramatically expand our knowledge concerning human flourishing.
International REACH Forgiveness Trial
Aetna Well-Being Assessment
Catholic Student Center Study
Work and Well-Being Surveys
- Secondary and Other Data Resources -
Many of our analyses and papers have made use of existing data resources concerning health and well-being including the Nurses’ Health Study (NHSI/NHSII), the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), the Mid-life in the United States Study (MIUDS), and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We also have a number of other data collection efforts in collaboration with the Columbus Foundation, Hangzhou University, the University of British Columbia, the Barna Group, and others, which are at earlier stages of development, with only a single wave of data, often directed at preliminary evidence on the properties of our various well-being measures.