Paper short abstract:

We propose an interdisciplinary mixed-method approach combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies to demonstrate the association of well-being and social capital against the backdrop of Japan's rural communities facing structural and demographic decline.

Paper long abstract:

Japan's rural areas are facing substantial demographic and structural change. While the negative impact of this development can be traced by objective social indicators (out-migration, aging, infrastructural and economic decline), subjective well-being does not show a clear trend in most rural communities. The Aso Region however demonstrates average values concerning structural indicators, while exhibiting comparatively high rates of subjective well-being. We propose an interdisciplinary mixed method research design to identify the potential causes of this unanticipated finding. As one of these factors we investigate the role of social capital and its prevalence in Aso.

In our presentation we introduce our new research project that pairs Japanese studies with sociology, political science and psychology. With our approach integrating qualitative (interviews, focus groups and participant observation) and quantitative insights (full census and intraregional comparison) we aim to discern the different dimensions of social capital and their respective effects on rural well-being. In the process we address a number of methodological issues affecting happiness and social capital research such as singular well-being indices and unidimensional levels of analysis, the dominance of Western happiness conceptions, limited sample resolution at the regional level as well as the limited consideration of external factors such as personality differences.

We argue that only by integrating a broad array of disciplinary perspectives and by making use of the particular strengths of both the quantitative and the qualitative approach an in-depth understanding of subjective well-being and its relation to social capital within rural communities is rendered possible.