Living in the Digital World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Living in the Digital World - Essay Example It is therefore evident that this evaluation may be subject to distortion and give incorrect data. Self-reported data may be subject to an individual’s aspirations, circumstances and comparison with others. Hence, an individual may intentionally give invalid information in regards to his or her happiness. The article accepts this shortcoming in measuring happiness but does not come up with strategies to overcome the possibility of collecting data (Blanchflower, 2003, p. 3). The author suggests that human happiness cannot be understood without listening to what people say about themselves. However, it is possible to collect accurate data given the fact the world has become more digital. Accurate data can be recorded to evaluate a person’s level of happiness by analyzing his or her activities both online and offline. It is necessary to take precaution when collecting data online as people may give information that cannot be substantiated. Boerro and Pascoe (2007) also not ed that the lack of real-life interaction in social networking sites can make respondents feel less obliged to give real information. The study â€Å"Money, Sex and Happiness† does not explore the possibility of alternative ways of collecting reliable data from the responds. The author stresses the significance of sex in relation to a person’s happiness by pointing out that almost all adults engage in sex quite often in their lives. According to Magnet (2007), sex was rated as the activity that produced the single largest amount of happiness. Thus, the study indicates that sex is an empirical determinant of happiness in the society. The authors are not clear on how the information on the sexual activity of individuals will be collected and substantiated. The article notes that, â€Å"[a]lthough, for the sake of persuasive identification, it would be desirable to have instrumental variables for sexual activity, in this paper we follow the simpler route of providing sin gle-equation estimates with no adjustment for possible endogeneity† (Blanchflower, 2003, p. 4).