Meta-analysis of Social Selfare Studies in Iran

In the present study, separate findings of research conducted in the field of social welfare in four specialized quarterly journals in the field of social welfare from 2005 to 2017 were combined and compared.

The present study is a systematic review with meta-analysis. The materials included all the articles during the years 2005 to 2017 in specialized social welfare journals, in Iran. Articles with the keyword of well-being or one of the well-being indicators based on the Legatum Institute were searched. Based on the entry and exit criteria, the articles were screened in several stages and finally 46 articles from among  the articles were selected to be examined for systematic review and meta-analysis. The data were analyzed using Stata software by performing meta-analysis (fixed and random model).

Nearly 84% of the research studies made the individual the unit of analysis, which indicates that the holistic approach is neglected in the sociological studies of social welfare. Among the examined indicators, the most common frequency (10 studies) was related to security. The second was the "health" index and the third component was "quality of life". Finally, the concept of social capital as the most frequent variable in the factors affecting social well-being had the highest frequency.
Discussion and

One of the weaknesses of welfare studies is the lack of research with composite indices of welfare. By integrating different aspects of social welfare, composite indicators provide the possibility of more comprehensive and integrated analyzes and are less likely to fall into the trap of reductionism.