The web sites and publications listed in Table 12.5 contain a large number of social and economic indicators. Checking any of the sources listed will give you a much better idea of the variety of social indicators available, including many that describe economic and social conditions in your country.

Development of an indicator is a long and complex process. Researchers and policy-makers, therefore, generally use existing indicators, many of which are developed by governmental and international organizations. Still, if you wish to consider development of a new or alternative indicator, you can find a useful description of the steps involved at:

Steps in Designing an Indicator System, this article describes the steps involved and provides guidance for carrying out each step.

Aids

Key terms

Available data Content analysis Ecological fallacy Inter-analyst reliability

Intra-analyst reliability Secondary analysis Social indicators Time series analyses

Main points

1. Available data are used in some way in virtually all research.
2. Available data include census and other statistical reports issued by government ministries, data from previous surveys, and the content of mass media materials - newspapers, magazines, films, speeches, etc.
3. Available data also exists in publications and on the Web sites of international organizations.
4. When analyzing available data, researchers are careful to limit their generalizations to the level at which the data are aggregated. Ignoring this rule may result in committing the error of ecological fallacy. This occurs when generalizations are broader than the data upon which they are based.
5. Secondary analysis is based on the re-analysis of previously collected and analyzed data. Most secondary analyses are based on analysis of previously collected survey data or the use of census data.
6. Content analysis is a systematic way of analyzing the content of materials and verbal communications. It is based on developing a set of categories for coding and analyzing the content of a body of material.
7. A set of categories used in content analysis should be tested for reliability between two competent analysts, called inter-analyst reliability, and for the reliability of coding by the main analyst, referred to as intra-analyst reliability.
8. Analysis of available data is a quick, inexpensive, and non-reactive way to do research. Its main limitation is that the data are often only an approximation of the measures a researcher would like to have.
9. Social indicators are measures of the economic and social wellbeing of a population. International organizations develop and publish a large variety of these indicators, many of which are available free on the Web sites of the organizations. Social indicators are used by researchers in conducting trend studies and for comparing social and economic development among countries.

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