Abstract
The 'Equity Index' (EI) as gratuitously labelled by Govinder and Makgoba in a recent paper is not an equity index. It is actually simply a demographic divergence index (DDI), one of many possible mathematical alternatives which warrant the name DDI. The invocation of the word 'equity' in the original name is a deliberate but implicit claim of moral and ethical authority for the construct. This claim needs to be tested before the label 'equity' is admitted as a meaningful description. A thorn by any other name is not a rose, and proximity is not provenance.
Highlights
At its heart, the argument of Govinder and Makgoba[1] invokes a single mathematical formula or structure
The objectivity is inferred from the mathematical replicability of the error across all contexts. This objectivity is applied to representations of South African universities,[2] but its wider application to other social institutions and conundrums is extravagantly but explicitly envisaged by the authors
The authors have indicated that foreign visitors and permanent residents in South Africa apparently constituted 0.5% of the census population and they and their constitutional rights are ignored in the analyses
Summary
Mathematical errors, smoke and mirrors in pursuit of an illusion: Comments on Govinder et al (2013). The objectivity is inferred from the mathematical replicability of the error across all contexts This objectivity is applied to representations of South African universities,[2] but its wider application to other social institutions and conundrums is extravagantly but explicitly envisaged by the authors. By a further assumption of a universal reference demographic profile, postulated as an exclusive and complete notion of equity, the mathematical structure of the DDI is invoked in the first paper to make value judgements about the states of institutions. The structure and pertinence of any rule for assigning numbers is open to scrutiny In this matter of equity, we have to contest the hidden assumptions imposed on the method and context of enquiry, when the root sum of squared differences (RSSD) is engineered and purported as a final arbiter of the state and fate of universities.
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