Showing papers in "Social Indicators Research in 1979"

The Structure of Subjective Well-Being in Nine Western Societies

Abstract: The structure of subjective well-being is analyzed by multidimensional mapping of evaluations of life concerns. For example, one finds that evaluations of Income are close to (i.e., relatively strongly related to) evaluations of Standard of living, but remote from (weakly related to) evaluations of Health. These structures show how evaluations of life components fit together and hence illuminate the psychological meaning of life quality. They can be useful for determining the breadth of coverage and degree of redundancy of social indicators of perceived well-being. Analyzed here are data from representative sample surveys in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States (each N ≈ 1000). Eleven life concerns are considered, including Income, Housing, Job, Health, Leisure, Neighborhood, Transportation, and Relations with other people. It is found that structures in all of these countries have a basic similarity and that the European countries tend to be more similar to one another than they are to USA. These results suggest that comparative research on subjective well-being is feasible within this group of nations.

On estimating the social costs of national economic policy: A critical examination of the Brenner study

Abstract: This is a critique of Brenner's attempt to link morbidity and mortality to inflation, per capita income and unemployment Several specific defects and recommendations are cited

Size of Place and Community Attachment: A Reconsideration.

Abstract: The literature on community attachment is briefly reviewed, and the dichotomization of theoretical perspectives into ‘linear development’ and ‘systemic’ approaches is brought into question. It is argued that recent evidence on the deterioration of U.S. metropolitan areas and the emergence of net urban-to-rural migration casts doubt on the exhaustiveness of the ‘linear development’ and ‘systemic’ perspectives and warrants an empirical reconsideration of the relationship between size of place and community attachment. Rural residence proves to be positively related to dependent measures of community attachment in a 1974 statewide Wisconsin survey. Measures of ‘participatory’ attachment to the community, however, are not strongly correlated with community attachment.

Are there sensible ways to analyze and use subjective indicators of urban service quality

Abstract: The application of subjective social indicators to evaluating local governmental services poses problems of interpretation and analysis. For several reasons, higher levels of subjective performance do not necessarily imply that in any other sense service performance is higher. Therefore, it may be erroneous to interpret an indicator such as expressed citizen satisfaction with a service as a measure of the quality of service government actually provides. Comparisons of average satisfaction levels can be especially misleading, as several simple simulation examples illustrate. This paper discusses some of the techniques and assumptions necessary for dealing with these problems, and offers some recommendations for using subjective indicators in local policy analysis.

Identifying components comprising neighborhood quality of life

Abstract: This research identified factors affecting neighborhood quality of life. A total of 140 men and women from diverse groups throughout the San Francisco Bay area participated. Each person completed a critical incident questionnaire reporting specific events within the neighborhood that affected his or her quality of life. Analysis of 695 incidents resulted in 17 factors within five main areas: (a) Environmental and Physical Conditions, (2) Economic Conditions, (3) Facilities and Services, (4) Political Conditions, and (5) Personal Characteristics and Interpersonal Relationships. The approach and results can be used to study impacts of specific social policies on neighborhoods and their residents.

Methods and strategies in evaluating equity research

Abstract: The thesis of this paper is that evaluation methods are strongly correlated to strategies employed in equity programming and research. Without attempting to settle the issue of specific advantages that might accrue to any particular approach, the paper nonetheless does aim to demonstrate that ends-in-view often determine choices in methods selected. A series of such broad-gauged methods are examined: evaluation research; cost-benefit analysis; quality of life measures; substitution strategies; microanalytic simulation; and in each instance evidence is adduced that the methods and procedures of research adopted — sometimes through scholarly initiatives, other times through government directives — serve quite specific epistemological and valuational premises of the researchers and agencies involved. One might say that the basic purpose of this exploratory study is to link problems in social policy to the style of analysis pioneered by the sociology of knowledge.

Predicting the quality of life in the United States

Abstract: A principal components analysis performed by David M. Smith on 47 U.S. state level indicators of social well-being yielded several components. The first two of these are socio-economic well-being and social pathology. Structural hypotheses are offered to explain state differences in these components. The structural variables condensed by a principal components analysis of state political, economic and social structure measures are differentiation, flexibility-rigidity, and progressive industrialization. These, along with several population measures, determine a substantial part of the variance in the two measures of social well-being.

Applied social reporting: A social indicators system for West German Society

Abstract: This paper presents a ‘system’, i.e. systematic compilation, of about 200 social indicators in 10 areas of life, for the Federal Republic of Germany, 1955–1975. The construction of this indicator system is explained and an abridged version is introduced that can be comprised into one master table. Next, an overall evaluation of welfare development in West Germany is given and four models for a time-sequence interpretation are discussed. Finally, the present effort is put in perspective, e.g. in regard of the OECD program and of recent quality-of-life survey research.

The U.S. federal effort in developing social indicators

Abstract: As an introduction to this issue, some historical background of the effort of the U.S. Federal goverment in tracking social trends and making use of social indicators is reviewed. The 1934 study, Recent Social Trends in the United States, and the monographs analyzing demographic trends sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, are seen as antecedents to the current support accorded what has become a kind of triennial Social Indicators publications. The three subject-matter social indicators volumes of the Federal government — Science Indicators, The Condition of Education and Health: U.S.A. — are reviewed in this volume, and the programs of several other agencies, the Bureau. etc., to develop and communicate social indicators are discussed. The forecast for the future of social indicators includes the development of social accounts, the improvement of models that have criterion social indicators as the dependent variable, and the appreciation of the statistical system to provide the information needed for improved monitorship and understanding. These are seen as joint endeavors of the public and private sectors.

Physical quality of life index: Some international and Indian applications

Abstract: In this paper, an attempt has been made to construct the physical quality of life index (PQLI) for some countries and for the Indian States as well. Three important indicators, viz. literacy rate, infant mortality rate and life expectancy at birth, reflecting the quality of life have been chosen and combined with equal weights to obtain PQLI. The rationale of equal weights, apart from any subjective judgement, may also be found in a mathematical model presented here. It is observed that PQLI rises sharply with per capita GNP but after a certain stage, an increase of per capita GNP is not accompanied by an increase of PQLI.

Discussion: Problems in social indicator development

Abstract: This paper attempts to draw together the critical comments of five reviewers of U.S. government publications in the field of social indicators. Three of these reviews, by Robert McGinnis, Robert E. Herriott and Monroe Lerner, are included in this issue. David seidman's review has been published in the January 1978 issue of The Annals, while Pamela Ebert-Flatteau's general comments have not been published. The diverse comments of these reviewers are organized into four general problem-areas: conceptual problems, problems of measurement, communication problems, and normative problems.

Some new directions for social indicators in the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Abstract: While there is considerable research activity within the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the construction of social indicators, the current data base is not adequate to construct a reasonably complete system of indicators for rural development of other rural policy concerns. It is argued that rural development indicators must be able to sense not only the outputs of social institutions and organizations expressed as programs or policies, but also the impacts of these outputs on human needs. This requires that measures of outcomes or the impact of institutions on individuals, such as those found in studies of subjective estimates of life quality, be incorporated into the rural data base. It is suggested, that some of the expertise and budget allocated to the collection of enumerative data be shifted to the collection of subjective estimates of life quality data tailored to the specific needs of rural development research and policy issues.

Toward a reappraisal of social indicators for housing in developing nations

Abstract: The need for social indicators to monitor and evaluate progress in the achievement of certain predetermined goals is now very evident. However, the design and construction of these indiactors still leave much to be desired. This paper analyzes the application of social indicators for housing in the context of the developing nations. The problem of changing standards of acceptable housing over time and the different images and needs of the diverse inhabitants bring the validity of present indicators for housing into question and at least, point out the need for talking social and cultural variables into consideration.

Rethinking national social reports

Abstract: Social reporting and social indicators are examined from the point of view of two specific cases, Social Indicators 1976 and Perspective Canada II.

The cylindrical structure of political involvement

Abstract: This research is devoted to a methodological study of interrelations among varieties of involvement in political issues, utilizing data designed and gathered in the context of the Israel election campaign for the Seventh Knesset in 1969. The observations on political involvement were defined by means of a mapping sentence. The interrelations were studied by calculating a weak monotonicity coefficient between each pair of variables. This correlation matrix was submitted to a smallest space analysis (SSA-I) in order to help ascertain the correspondence between the structure of the matrix and the facets of political issues in the mapping sentence. It is hypothesized that the regression of one form of involvement on another should be monotone and of positive sign. Such a ‘first law’ of involvement does hold empirically here. Furthermore, the structure of the intercorrelation matrix can be represented geometrically by a cylindrical interpretation of the SSA space which corresponds to the facet design of the varieties of involvement. The axis of the cylinder distinguishes between instrumental and cognitive involvement, while the circularity within strata of the cylinder corresponds to the facet of political issues which are the objects of the involvement.

The mental health demographic profile system: A longitudinal information system

Abstract: This paper presents the plans currently being developed to make the Mental Health Demographic Profile System into a longitudinal information system useful for research and program planning. Topics discussed are as follows: (1) Development of a data base that contains 1960, 1970, and 1980 small areas (census tracts, MCDs or CCDs, counties). Preliminary tables for 1960,and 1970 will be displayed. Problems of identifying constant small areas for 1960 and 1970 are discussed. (2) Items to be included in the standard profile and items to be available for use (but not part of the standard profile) are discussed. (3) Improvement of access to the data system is discussed. This includes a discussion of the interactive programs being developed and the possible transfer of service and maintenance functions (but not development functions) to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Evaluative comparisons of distributions of a social variable: Ordering methods

Abstract: A distribution of a social variable over a population assigns a level or value of the variable to each individual in the population. The present paper continues a study of methods of ordering distributions of a social variable that was begun in an earlier paper. The earlier paper addressed issues of meaningfulness of evaluative comparisons and then examined several fundamental criteria for social evaluation. The present paper focuses on a variety of methods of ordering distributions. It begins with additive extensions of a Pareto principle and then looks at a number of distributional dominance relations, all of which are based on individuals' preferences. Ordering methods that may be only marginally related to individuals' preferences are discussed in the latter part of the paper.

Analysis of social pathologies in a policy context: A paradigm for action

Abstract: Prevention continues to gain importance among the strategies open for governmental development of social policy. This paper offers two exploratory conceptual discussions related to prevention in social policy. The first is a representation of the policy making environment with special reference to the informational requirements for the development of policy. The second is a discussion of social pathologies, broadly defined as patterns of behavior with important negative repercussions on individuals whom we refer to as victims, and of possible strategies toward the development of (at least partial) preventive measures. The two discussions are interrelated as the shape of the second is dictated by the desiderata outlined in the first. The paper is divided into five parts: I. Introduction: the conundrum of prevention. II. The Development of a paradigm of the policy context. III. Dependent variables: social pathologies. IV. Independent variables: a focus on structural determinants. V. Conclusion: information requirements for preventive action.

Science indicators/1976: A critique

Abstract: Science Indicators/1976 (SI/76) is the third volume in a biennial series of profiles of contemporary U.S. science and scientists produced by the National Science Foudation under the direction of its National Science Board. The bulk of this volume, as of its predecessors, consists primarily of charts, figures and tables that contain time series data representing resources, activities and products of American science. The implicit theoretical structure that guided the collection of these data, a two-tiered input-output model, is described and criticized as are the data themselves. The diagnosis of U.S. science today that emerges from these data is one of reasonably sound health. But SI/76 is also, again implicitly, a device for projection and here the picture is gloomier: as resources for science dwindle so must the magnitude of the enterprise decline, together quite possibly with the quality of its products. Although brickbats are hurled at SI/76, particularly for its inadequate disaggregation and lack of quantitative analyses, it is judged to be a work of extremely high quality and utility.

TOWARD MACRO-SOCIAL ACCOUNTING: MEASURES AND SCALES OF RACIAL, SEXUAL, AND SPATIAL EQUALITY IN 243 U.S. SMSA's*

Abstract: This paper develops a set of empirical social indicators of quality between races, sexes, and spatial areas in all U.S. SMSA's. New findings are presented concerning the level of equality by city and region. An eight-step Guttman Scale is developed which suggests a progressive hierarchy of these various of equality. Cities develop higher levels of equality between residents in a patterned building block manner beginning first with favorable levels of spatial equality and culminating in equality between black and white professional employment rates. Finally, a canonical correlation model is hypothesized and empirically estimated to explain variation between these 243 cities in level of inequality. This model linked key economic, demographic and ecological forces to levels of equality in spatial systems.

An operational framework for policy modeling in the social sciences

Abstract: The apparent inability (or unwillingness) of social scientists to do policy relevant, applied research is discussed. One aspect of the problem is identified as a lack of an analytic framework designed specifically with policy research in mind. Such a framework is developed from a synthesis of the assumptions of: (1) what constitutes policy and the policy research process, and (2) what should be involved in social indicator research. The policy implications of sundry structural forms assumed by the general model are discussed.

Social indicators, 1976: A critique

Abstract: Social Indicators 1976 is reviewed from the point of view of its conceptual framework, data presentation, analysis and interpretation, data quality, variable disaggregation and quality of life measures.

The developing program on social indicators at the U.S. Bureau of the Census

Abstract: The Bureau of the Census Fiscal Year 1978 Budget provides funds for the first time for beginning a modest but coordinated effort in the field of social indicators and associated activities. The Bureau, buttressed by the advice and participation of other Government agencies, organizations and individuals outside of the Federal establishment long interested in social indicators, intends to: (1) consolidate and extend the development of the concepts and principles advanced previously relating to social indicators; (2) continue and expand the efforts and communication network established at the Office of Management and Budget, in connection with the preparation of the Social Indicators 1973 and 1976 reports; (3) systematically identify and assemble information sets and bits that are contained in censuses and surveys, household and establishment universes, administrative records, studies and projects capable of contributing to social indicator and social accounting development; (4) establish the basic analytic framework and an orderly set of detailed interrelated social accounts capable of being aggregated or disaggregated to appropriate levels of abstraction; and (5) prepare research and analytic studies and make available information generated from the social indicator and social accounting efforts at the Bureau, subject to limitations associated with confidentiality and copyright provisions pertaining to private sources of information.

Developing indicators of environmental quality: The experience of the council on environmental quality

Abstract: In the late 1960s there was great interest in the U.S. environmental field for duplicating the success economists had in developing statistical indicators. This article traces the history of the development of environmental indices at the Council on Environmental Quality from initial research aimed at preparing one or at best a few indices of environmental quality to the most recent effort which aims to organize indicators showing conditions and trends on a wide variety of environmental topics. The Council intends to distribute the findings periodically. The report may be viewed as a briefing book for policymakers. Criteria used in selecting and developing indicators —relevancy, selectivity, availability of data, changes over time, statistical quality, and scope of coverage — are discussed. A key purpose of this effort is to improve the quality of data available for making national environmental policies. Appendixes included are: (1) a bibliography of works dealing with the general problems of developing, using, and evaluating environmental indicators; (2) a selection of over 100 U.S. Federal periodical reponts on specific aspects of environmental conditions; and (3) a comprehensive framework for identifying topics and selecting meaningful and useful environmental indicators to be used as the report outline.

A review of health: united states, 1975"

Abstract: Health: United States, 1975 is reviewed with emphasis on its strengths, weaknesses and prospects for further editions.

A measure of quality of opportunity

Abstract: A ratio measure of the quality of choice alternatives available to individuals is introduced that can be calibrated using either actual revealed choice data or theoretical choice models.

Some observations on The Condition of Education (1976 edition)

Abstract: The Condition of Education 1976 assembles data in table and chart on a wider range of educational data than have appeared in previous Federal reports, organizing them around issues and divisions of the U.S. educational establishment. The elementary/secondary and higher education levels are more adequately represented than other system levels. Six system properties are introduced to evaluate the degree of representation in the volume: environment, structure, culture, output, throughput, and input. System output is best represented by the volume, and system culture is greatly under-represented; otherwise, the 124 educational indicators are fairly well distributed across system properties. System properties by educational level again reveal culture to be inadequately measured. Temporally, 70 of the 124 indicators are presented in more than 2 points in time but only 13 indicators are projected into the future. Utilization of this classification system reveals areas of the statistical system needing greater emphasis, particularly system demographics, properties of kindergarten/nursery, post-secondary noncollegiate, graduate/professional, and adult-education levels, a need for more indicators of cultural variables, and a need to interrelate system output with input and throughput.