Qualitative information: a proposal for measurement to quantify eh effects of COVID-19 on the emotional well-being of women and men by means of proximities

Emotional well-being is a fundamental factor that directly influences individual productivity from an economic perspective. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant factor that has affected emotional well-being. It has had serious repercussions on economies and societies, as well as significant psychological and social effects on the population, such as anxiety, stress, and transformations in education and employment. To measure these aspects, it is very common to use surveys based on qualitative scales. The most popular method for managing qualitative information involves assigning numerical values to the response categories of these qualitative scales. However, this practice can produce a distorted interpretation of the data, as different results can be obtained depending on how the numerical values are assigned. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the coronavirus on certain emotional aspects of women and men in Spain using an indicator based on the concept of ordinal proximity measures. The database used in this study was obtained from the Sociological Research Center of Spain.