Actually the demonstration of their "class" status (are you English?) was to show that 30 years of premiedom has not prevented them having succesful lives in the wider society.

Socio-economic class (usually self-identified) is a standard classification among sociologists. Middle Class and Working Class are often interpreted to mean the same thing, although some divide middle into "upper" and "lower," with lower being "working." "Working has fallen into disuse in the US, because almost everyone consideres themself part of the "working class" if they're working, or even if they're just looking for work.

Their HQ I judge myself on the basis of 30 years' acquaintance. I use the normal methods for determining this.

What you mean "normal" Kimsabe? The term "happiness quotient" implies some sort of objective measure, and by your own admission it's nothing of the sort. So you don't have a representative sample, or an objective measure, or even an hypothesis... but you still claim this has statistical validity?

You may notice that I haven't said they're all happy. I believe I left around 5 or 6 in the unhappier than normal category so I am able to make a distinction

Well, my contention is that you've done nothing but provide your subjective impression and you haven't even specified very clearly what that happens to be based on. For all any of us know we wouldn't assess any of them as happy. "Successful" is more objective, although even that's somewhat imprecise. Homeowners, I guess is about as objective as you get. But again, your sample isn't representative, so it doesn't really provide any information other than that "some" current premies are "successful."

So?

Do you have any a priori beliefs that prevent you accepting taht many premies are happy?

The point is that you haven't shed any light on the issue. What does "many" mean, for istance? More than two? More than two per thousand? More than two in ten? Two of every four?