Application of membership function in the analysis of subjective perception of quality of life

In this paper a multivariate analysis of the subjective perception of quality of life is undertaken. In the analysis methods of a fuzzy set theory are applied. The study is conducted on data from the Social Diagnosis 2013. It includes 16 items relating to the evaluation of satisfaction with particular aspects of life. Each of these items is measured on a 7-grade scale. The item’s categories are converted into a [0, 1] interval by using a membership function. In order to aggregate items into synthetic indicators various systems of weights are used. It is found that the choice of weights does not significantly affect the distribution of synthetic indicators. In the next stage, the subjective perception of the quality of life in different socio- -demographic groups is analyzed. It is found that such characteristics as gender, place of residence, size of household, education level and age are important determinants of subjective perception of quality of life