The article highlights the correlation between happiness and stress levels and individual’s financial situation. The sample of 5,800 were surveyed by the Telegraph and Channel 5 however it does not reveal the way that the survey was distributed, whether it was online or postal for example which impacts the results because some individuals may not have completed the survey if it was online if they did not have access to a device which would allow them to do it electronically, or if people did not have time or didn’t care enough to complete a postal survey. Also, with a sample of 5,800 individuals, this is a large enough sample the can formulate the results, however the specifics of this sample were not mentioned such as gender, age, class and ethnicity who would all reveal different answers to what they’re preferred leisure activities were and whether these can be generalised to the rest of the population. It is also difficult to exactly specify what makes people happy because this is a subjective opinion which differs for each person so formulating one specific definition is difficult. In terms of the individual’s financial situation, the survey generalised the salary of those individuals from entire regions will not be the same and cannot reflect everyone and their financial situation and how this affects their happiness. Subsequently, we can question the accuracy and reliability of how the researchers can confidently correlate the two and be certain this is the definite answer.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/rich-house-poor-house/where-is-happiest-region-in-uk/