The Uses of Social Indicators

Abstract

As statistical time series social indicators are used to monitor the social system helping to identify changes and guide interventions to alter the course of social change. Extending time series into the future while an imperfectly developed art enables more realistic planning. The geographic allocation of resources by governments through ecological indicators redistributes funds more equitably. Social indicators lend themselves to geographic disaggregation and analysis by successively smaller area units: nation region state subregion district or county. Cities are similarly into ecological areas. Such detail makes possible comparison of trends of ecological units and opens the analytical possibility of interrelating social with physical and biological indicators. This yields insights into the influences of population social organization technology and environmental effects upon a public problem or concern. By combining with programmatic activities to alter the rate and direction of change social indicators may play a role in social transformations. The social indicator movement has led to improvements in social measurement social reporting and social accounting and has stimulated measurement of the quality of life. By employing social indicators sociological research should include the time dimension ecological variables and should attempt forecasts of the furture.