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Ann Jaimi Alexander

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Canada is the best country for women to live

Canada has been rated as the best country for women to live out of the G20 countries. At the bottom of this list is India, beating out even Saudi Arabia where women only gained the right to vote in 2011.

What are your thoughts on this ranking system? Is it a fair comparison?
What does this type of comparison prove?

I'm a Canadian and this result came as a surprise, however I am proud that Canada is at the top of this list.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/incoming/canada-gets-top-ranking-in-best-place-for-women-to-live/article4254186/

Topics: Gender equality canada feminism
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    Obey No1kinobe 50+

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    Jul 28 2012: Australia was forth.
    Once you throw in the more comfortable climate it might come out in front.

    Well done Canada
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    Krisztián Pintér 200+

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    Jul 24 2012: claim 1: women like warm weather
    claim 2: canada is cold
    conclusion: women suffer in canada

    (puts on sunglasses)
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    Robert Winner 50+

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    Jul 7 2012: I once worked in analysis and can tell you that I can write a survey and administer it openly and get the results that you wish to see. The trick is in how you word the question and to ask the right questions.

    The truth is in the pudding. How did you precieve Canada prior to this poll? How has this information changed your opinion? What was the criteria used? Do you think it was valid?

    In the mean time bask in the knowledge that Canada is doing something right to earn consideration and being named as #1. Enjoy.

    All the best. Bob.
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    Ann Jaimi Alexander

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    Jul 3 2012: I agree that rankings are relative to what one might be looking for. and it's trye Robert that culture plays a huge part of these rankings, yet who are we to judge upon others cultural beliefs?!

    • Robert Galway 20+

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      Jul 3 2012: I think 'we' would be the group that chose to rank living conditions.

      You asked what does the survey prove. Perhaps one answer is that there are people willing to judge such things with enough certainty or arrogance to publish the results.

  • Robert Galway 20+

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    Jul 2 2012: It is an interesting finding (mom is Canadian), but I wonder about the survey...

    It would seem the ranking should be done by women. i t would also seem that to be a good survey, women from all countries might have to agree on what is the best basis for comparison. Cultural or religious differences might skew things a bit. If you religion prohibits you from being uncovered in public, and you are happy with your religion, then the right to wear little or nothing at beach would not be high on your list of worries. Similarly, it is hard to equate a right to vote with inability to get food or medicine. Seems like the essentials should carry more weight in the survey and those that long for these things might have a tough time evaluating some of the nuances of quality of life available in more developed countries.

    Certainly it is a good thing, but how good depends on the quality of the survey.

    If you were one of my Canadian Aunts, my advice would be to celebrate with a butter tart and bring it up at Bingo.
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      Debra Smith 200+

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      Jul 24 2012: OK Robert, we are two for two, I too am a woman and I do love living in Canada. Butter tarts were my favourite until this stroke changed my tastebuds and the last time I was at Bingo! I was a preteen dragged by great aunts.
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    Salim Solaiman 50+

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    Jun 29 2012: May be Canada is rightly placed.....but even than the validity & authenticity of ranking is in a BIG question mark (the link didn't open so couldn't look in to it) to me if Saudi is placed ahead of India.....as I know a little about the situation over there with my physical presence for sometime.......
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Jun 29 2012: Issues in rankings that can limit their usefulness come from several sources. One is that the author of the ranking system chooses things to measure and how to measure them. The choice of things to measure may not line up with what any particular woman or group of women might measure. Another area of question might be how the researchers measure the variables they chose.
    Once each criterion is measured, the ranking involves a choice of what weight to place on each before aggregating the data into a number that forms the basis for the ranking. The weights the author chooses may or may not reflect the priorities for any particular woman.
    This matter is discussed a lot when people try to use rankings of best colleges in the United States, for example. Some people might argue that the number of Nobel laureates on the faculty or the number of publications the faculty accomplishes each year should not be a top priority for undergraduates if those faculty will not be teaching their undergraduate classes. This argument is not certainly accurate but included here only as a case people sometimes make for why rankings are a messy signal of the fit between anyone and a place.
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    peter lindsay 30+

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    Jun 29 2012: I can't help but feel they should have include climate as one of the criteria. This may be just because I'm Australian and all the other countries at the top seem so cold.
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      Debra Smith 200+

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      Jul 24 2012: There's a point! Maybe we are happy to be well preserved! (Refridgerated)
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jul 24 2012: OH MY GOODNESS....that is funny and probably true!!! I live right near the Canadian border in Vermont, USA.....cold country!

        When I was a professional actress, singer, dancer model, I was often cast 8 - 10 years younger than my actual age. Sometimes, in the "city", on a set, when they found out my age, they would ask....how do you do that? What is your secret? Bla.....bla....bla......

        My answer was that I live in Vermont, and frozen meat doesn't spoil! LOL!!!
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    edward long 100+

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    Jun 29 2012: I understand the Globe and Mail published the ranking, but who performed the research and analysis?
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      Ann Jaimi Alexander

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      Jul 3 2012: The poll was conducted by TrustLaw, a news service operated by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity operated by Thomson Reuters.
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        edward long 100+

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        Jul 3 2012: Thank you. I see TrustLaw has a special interest in women's rights. I assume that special interest is in promoting women's rights. I also assume TrustLaw is a Canadian entity. I further assume TrustLaw is capable of authoring an unbiased poll and of compiling and reporting an ethical statement of each and every respondent. Finally, I assume the poll was administered in Canada.
        That all fits together to point toward a reasonable liklihood that this poll has a strong Canadian influence. Brows may furrow at this revelation, but no cries of "Bogus!" should be heard.
        So the reported result indicates there is no better country on Earth for a woman than Canada. That sounds like a rousing endorsement of Canadian policies toward women's rights, but statistics are like bikinis in that what they do not reveal is more important than what they reveal.. What do women in Canada say about this, eh?
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          Ann Jaimi Alexander

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          Jul 10 2012: Great observations Edward. And women in Canada are actually surprised by this find (from the people I've spoken to at least) which indicates how inaccurate this poll is OR that we are living in an age where our freedom is assumed rather than appreciated.
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      Debra Smith 200+

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      Jul 24 2012: Do we need to add that the Globe is one of Canada's premier business newspapers? Is this a little like applying for your company to be one of the best places in the country to work and asking all the employees to help make that happen>
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        edward long 100+

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        Jul 24 2012: It is similar Debra. I think a couple of more degrees of separation between the research investigators and the declared winner would add some credence. It's kind of like me winning my own raffle. Lots of our Arizona women are looking into moving to Canada :--D.
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          Debra Smith 200+

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          Jul 24 2012: Tell them to come and visit me, Edward! Our landscape is beautiful too - if no where near as colourful. (They might have to learn to put 'our' on the ends of all those words like colour, labour, etc.) Spell check can convert to Canadian though!
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