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

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.     

Nowcasting Indicators of Poverty Risk in the European Union: A Microsimulation Approach

The at-risk-of-poverty rate is one of the three indicators used for monitoring progress towards the Europe 2020 poverty and social exclusion reduction target. Timeliness of this indicator is critical for monitoring the effectiveness of policies. However, due to complicated nature of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) poverty risk estimates are published with a 2–3 years delay. This paper presents a method that can be used to estimate (“nowcast”) the current at-risk-of-poverty rate for the European Union (EU) countries based on EU-SILC microdata from a previous period. The EU tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD is used for this purpose in combination with up to date macro-level statistics. The method is validated by using EU-SILC data for 2007 incomes to estimate at-risk-of-poverty rates for 2008–2012 and to compare the predictions with actual EU-SILC and other external statistics. The method is tested on eight EU countries which are among those experiencing the most volatile economic conditions within the period: Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania.     

A test of the utility of social indicators for behavioral health service planning

Given current imperatives for more effective, responsive, and economical government, policy planners and administrators are seeking increasing assistance from social scientists. Here the usefulness of social indicators to the processes of policy planning and implementation in the delivery of mental health, alcohol and drug abuse services is investigated to determine whether social indicator data can contribute to more effective policy planning. In a two part study, the relationship between social indicators and Specific sources of these data were: population total, subdivided by geographic area and race (Caucasian, Black, and Other, which in Arizona is virtually all Native Americans) from the 1975 special census; population by age and ratio of dissolutions to marriages from the Arizona Statistical Review for 1977; crime rates from the Arizona State Justice Planning Agency for 1975; and cause of death rates from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, Arizona Department of Health Services for 1975. Subjective measures of psychological well-being were not available for the internal validational component of the study. state wide service utilization rates and The Negative Affect Scale measures the individual's level of anxiety, worry, loneliness, and sadness, and is associated with other measures that have been used in epidemiological studies to identify persons with psychological difficulties. The Psychiatric Screening Inventory assesses an individual's level of psychiatric impairment as evidenced by the frequency with which he or she reports having experienced each of the 22 psychological and psychosomatic symptoms on the scale. It has also been used in numerous epidemiological studies to investigated levels of impairment among various populations. The Positive Affect Scale reflects the degree to which the person is involved with, interested in, and experiences control over his or her physical and social environment. Active involvement with the world and frequent social participation are considered to be conducive to the experience of positive affect. The Perceived Quality of Life Scale measures the degree to which the persons is satisfied with the quality of his or her life. The score on this scale is a composite of the respondent's level of satisfaction in different areas of life such as standard of living, health, personal functioning, and family life. The greater the satisfaction in these separate areas, the higher will be the individual's overall evaluation of the quality of his or her life. psychological well-being in the community is examined. Both objective and subjective social indicators were studied. Both types of indicators were found to be useful and complementary in identifying service needs and states of well-being in the community.     

Measures of self-reported well-being: their affective,cognitive, and other components

This investigation begins from the hypothesis that social indicators of perceived well-being — e.g., people's assessment of their own life quality — will, like other attudes, reflect two basic types of influences: affect and cognition. In addition, the indicators were expected to include two other components: unique variance (mainly random measurement error) and correlated measurement error. These ideas are investigated using a structural modeling approach applied to 23 assessments of life-as-a-whole from a national survey of Americans (N=1072) and/or a survey of urban residents in England (N=932). In both sets of data, models that included affective and cognitive factors fit significantly better than more restricted models. Furthermore, as expected, measures of (a) ‘happiness’, ‘fun’, and ‘enjoyment’ tended to be relatively more loaded with affect than were measures of (b) ‘satisfaction’, ‘success’, and ‘meeting needs’; and (c) measures designed to tap both affect and cognition tended to fall between the first two groups. In addition, the results suggest that measures employing relatively many scale points and direct assessments yield more valid indicators of people's evaluations of life-as-a-whole than do measures based on three-point scales or on explicit comparisons with other times or groups. These results contribute to basic knowledge about the nature of life quality assessments, help to explain some previously puzzling relationships with demographic factors such as age and education, and may be useful to designers of future studies of perceived well-being.     

The Measurement of Non-economic Inequality in Well-Being Indices

This paper is a critical review of composite well-being indices that account for inequality. Many well-being indices build upon the idea that while income and wealth are important, they do not constitute a person’s actual quality of life. However, first of all, the analysis finds that while well-being indices aim to go “beyond GDP” and other primarily economic indicators, many of them, unfortunately, do not focus on inequality at all. Secondly, most indices which include inequality in their measurement, only account for economic inequality. Thirdly, the article finds that the most comprehensive wellbeing index in terms of inequality is the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index which adjusts for economic, health and education inequality. This article finds that well-being indices should make further strides to ensure the capture of non-economic inequality in terms of education and health.     

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

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.

The organizational structure to carry out this program consists of four primary work centers: information, social indicators, social accounts, and special studies. The structure is designed to provide for continuity of purpose, improve chances for individual achievement and group benefit, and to generate products that will contribute to a more accurate understanding of life experiences in the context of the interplay of social and economic forces and political and juridical institutions.     

Long-term social development of Hungary,measured by social indicators

Social indicators of social structure, urbanisation, level of living and social mobility chances are used to study the development of Hungarian society from the period of capitalist society to the present. The impact of socialist transformations, as well as the influences of the new economic and social conditions appearing in the second half of the 1960's and leading to the economic reforms are especially investigated. Modernization, the decline of inequalities of income and of social mobility opportunities characterized the socialist transformations. Since the mid-60's new tendencies are emerging that need careful investigation.     

The Shape of South African Society and its Challenges

South Africa's negotiated settlement and its transition to democracy reads like a modern fairy tale. A brief review of South Africa's social indicators serves to temper some of optimism about the country's future. The indicators reflect the society's quality of life which has been shaped by its turbulent history. Political “caste formation”, changing political alliances, the reforms intended to forestall the demise of apartheid, and the race for global competitiveness have left indelible marks on the society's social indicators. A comparison of living conditions in South Africa with those of roughly comparable economies indicates that the country lags behind in securing overall and widespread socio-economic upgrading of the population at large. A review of a cross-section of South African indicators and their trends over time shows that South Africa is still a very deeply divided society with a very large backlog in socio-economic development. There is evidence of breakdown in the society's social cohesion. Popular expectations of future quality of life indicate that the euphoria following on the first democratic elections has been replaced by a sense of realism among all sectors of the population. It is concluded that quality of life as reflected in South Africa's social indicators may get worse before it improves. The challenge will be to avoid new forms of economic “apartheid” which would depress the quality of life of marginal sectors of the population at the expense of the economically privileged.     

New money,and old man/lady and ‘Two's company’: Subjective Welfare in the NORC General Social Surveys, 1972–1982

The nine surveys, dozens of variables, and more than ten thousand cases in the NORC General Social Surveys, 1972–1982, allow one to test a variety of cross-sectional and over-time hypotheses about Subjective Welfare (Happiness). I used discrete multivariate analyses to test five hypotheses: (1) the Economist's prediction that Happiness is a function of income; the Sociologist's hypotheses that Happiness is a function of (2) rank on various evaluated dimensions and (3) number of social ties; and the Psychologist's hypotheses that Happiness is affected by (4) social comparisons and (5) adaptation. None of the five is supported impressively, but three variables emerge as good cross-sectional predictors — Race (Blacks are less Happy, but not necessarily because of discrimination), Marital Status (all categories of nonmarried are less happy) and Financial Change (those whose finances are improving are happier, those who finances have turned for the worse are less happy). When Marital Status and Recent Financial Change are used in a year-to-year social indicator model, fluctuations in the predictors produce significant but small changes in Happiness.     

Trajectory of Life Satisfaction and its Relationship with Subjective Economic Status and Successful Aging

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between subjective economic status and indicators of successful aging to life satisfaction trajectories among the elderly in Taiwan. Data were from the four waves of “Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan”. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted. Subjective economic status was measured by childhood economic status and time-varying economic satisfaction. Time-varying physical, mental, and social successful aging variables and demographics were also used to describe the trajectory of life satisfaction. Life satisfaction showed a slightly decreasing but generally stationary trend across time. The concurrent economic satisfaction was associated with life satisfaction trajectory, but childhood economic status was not significant. The time-varying depressive symptoms, cognitive function and social support were related to the life satisfaction trajectory. Policy on the elderly should take particular account of the economic security, mental health, and social support of the elderly.     

International social indicators: The OECD experience

One of the few efforts to develop an operational set of international social indicators is underway through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The paper describes the OECD plan and gives some preliminary appraisal of the completed first phase of the work, the definition of the elements of well-being for which specific indicators of change should be developed. Attention is directed to certain aspects of the overall strategy being pursued by OECD including its careful delimitation of scope to the one type of social indicators (herein termed well-being indicators) for which international agreement now appears possible although very difficult. A possible governmental strategy for development of more comprehensive social indicators in the longer term context is suggested.     

Social Health Indicators and Economic Growth: Evidence from East Asia and Pacific,Middle East and North Africa,South Asia,and Sub-Saharan Africa

The objective of this study is to empirically investigate a two-way statistical relationship between the social health indicators and economic growth in the context of four major regions of the world i.e., East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. To recognize the relationship between the two variables, a time series, co-integration and Granger causality tests have been employed. Aggregate secondary data pertaining to these four regions from 1975 to 2011 on economic growth and social health indicators i.e., infant mortality, child abuse, child poverty, unemployment, weekly wages, health insurance coverage, teenage suicide, teenage drug abuse, high school dropouts, poverty, out-of-pocket health costs, homicides, alcohol related traffic fatalities, food insecurity, income inequality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, basic health units and rural health centers has been used for analysis. This study evaluates four alternative but equally plausible hypotheses, each with different policy implications. These are: (1) social health indicators Granger cause economic growth, (2) economic growth Granger cause social health indicators (the conventional view), (3) There is a bi-directional causality between the two variables and (4) Both variables are causality independent (although highly correlated). The empirical results only moderately support the conventional view that economic growth has significant long run casual effect on social health indicators in East Asia and Pacific, MENA, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The present study find evident of unidirectional causality running towards economic growth to social health indicators, although, there are some bidirectional causality also exists between the variables. The percentage of unidirectional causality between economic growth and social health indicators is larger than bidirectional or neutrality hypothesis.     

The Philippine social indicators project

The Social Indicators Project of the Development Academy of the Philippines (1974) aimed to formulate a measurement system capable of objectively depicting periodic changes in national development. It identified the following as basic Philippine social concerns: (1) Health and Nutrition, (2) Learning, (3) Income and Consumption, (4) Employment, (5) Non-human Productive Resources, (6) Housing, Utilities, and the Environment, (7) Public Safety and Justice, (8) Political Values, and (9) Social Mobility. This list is unique in considering political welfare. A multi-disciplinary research team selected 30 major indicators pertinent to these concerns. Although the majority are already encompassed by the Philippine statistical system, certain new indicators were proposed, including disability due to illness, human capital created by schooling, net beneficial product, families below a food threshold, an index of housing adequacy, an air pollution index for Greater Manila, an index of perceived public safety, indices of political mobility and efficacy, and indices of occupational mobility and perceived social mobility. A survey of 1000 households was used to demonstrate the feasibility of gathering needed new primary data, particularly those attitudinal in nature. An analysis of time series showed that certain aspects of Philippine welfare have been notably improving, but that others have been worsening; the direction of national progress can only be ascertained by admitting value-judgments on the relative importance of the several components of welfare.     

African urban life: Components of satisfaction in Sierra Leone

This comparative study finds relatively high satisfaction with the quality of life in three Sierra Leonean towns, but there are notable differences between men and women and between the towns in which domains support this satisfaction. The standard of living achieved, and the job and income which make it possible, are the most important factors in satisfaction with the quality of urban life, but the limits on women's mobility are indicated by the greater emphasis they place on housing and neighborhood. Dissatisfaction among the relatively advantaged, with their own position and with the country's progress in development, reflects the political disaffection of some members of this group.     

Toward sociomedical health indicators

The various forms of mortality data and biomedical measures of morbidity have become inadequate measures of the level of health in economically developed countries. Measures of functional physical capacity have some advantages but do not reflect physical impairment. Current attempts to develop sociomedical health indicators include: measures of social disability; typologies of presenting symptoms, which have been used to estimate probable needs for care; measures which focus on behavioral expressions of sickness; research based on operational definitions of ‘positive mental health’, ‘happiness’ and perceived quality of life; assessments of met and unmet needs for health care, which are measures of social capacity to care for the sick. Sociomedical indicators reflect both objective conditions and social values. They are policy-oriented, serving as mobilizing agents for sociopolitical pressures concerned with raising the overall level of health of the population.     

Should occupational codes be obtained from census data or from retrospective survey data in studies on occupational health?

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of occupational history information obtained via retrospective interview questions by comparison with occupational information for the same individuals obtained via a number of censuses. Moreover, morbidity patterns were investigated for different occupational exposure categories that were constructed either on occupational data gathered retrospectively or on data gathered longitudinally through censuses. The study population consisted of 6764 men and 2104 women who were interviewed within the Swedish Survey on Living Conditions. Census data on occupation from 1960, 1970 and 1975 were used for comparison. There was high level of agreement between the two data bases for occupational categories containing workers who were stable in their occupations. The correspondence was better for women. Prevalence rates for different long-term illnesses were almost the same for the categories, no matter which of the data bases was used for constructing the categories. Thus, we have found that self-reported work histories might be a useful way of controlling for occupational exposures in the past.     

Occupational Stratification of Hispanics,Whites, and Blacks in Southern Rural Destinations: A Quantitative Analysis

Since the 1990s, many rural communities in the Southern US have experienced an unprecedented influx of Latino migrants. Some research undertaken on such “new Hispanic destinations” suggests that the newcomers tend to assume low-status jobs shunned by non-Hispanic residents and thus form a segmented labor market, but other work indicates that they heavily compete with natives (particularly African Americans) for less-skilled positions. Drawing on data from the 2000 census and 2009–2011 American Community Survey, this paper examines patterns of occupational stratification between Latino, white, and black men in the rural South to identify whether Hispanic economic relations in the area are better characterized by segmentation or competition. Specifically, occupational dissimilarity indexes and status scores are calculated to map the groups’ relative economic positions in the rural portions of five Southeastern states home to fast-growing nonmetro Latino populations: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Consistent with the segmentation hypothesis, the results reveal that Latinos are highly occupationally dissimilar from non-Hispanic whites and blacks and rank significantly below both in mean occupational status. Standardization of the stratification measures shows that Hispanics’ labor market isolation and disadvantage can be substantially accounted for by their lower average levels of human capital and US citizenship.     

Quality of Life Predictors and Normative Data

This study identifies predictors and normative data for quality of life (QOL) in a sample of Portuguese adults from general population. A cross-sectional correlational study was undertaken with two hundred and fifty-five (N = 255) individuals from Portuguese general population (mean age 43 years, range 25–84 years; 148 females, 107 males). Participants completed the European Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life short-form instrument and the European Portuguese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Demographic information was also collected. Portuguese adults reported their QOL as good. The physical, psychological and environmental domains predicted 44 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor was the physical domain and the weakest was social relationships. Age, educational level, socioeconomic status and emotional status were significantly correlated with QOL and explained 25 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor of QOL was emotional status followed by education and age. QOL was significantly different according to: marital status; living place (mainland or islands); type of cohabitants; occupation; health. The sample of adults from general Portuguese population reported high levels of QOL. The life domain that better explained QOL was the physical domain. Among other variables, emotional status best predicted QOL. Further variables influenced overall QOL. These findings inform our understanding on adults from Portuguese general population QOL and can be helpful for researchers and practitioners using this assessment tool to compare their results with normative data.     

Education Enrollment Level and Income Inequality: A Case of SAARC Economies

This article introduces ‘critical open-mindedness’ as a new sociological construct, which can be employed particularly in the studies of social attitudes and attitude change, social values, social identities, cross-cultural relations and social discrimination. By drawing on the data collected through the 2005 World Values Survey in Australia, we have operationalized the construct into an integrative social index, called ‘critical open-mindedness index’ consisting of five dimensional composite indicators (CIs; i.e. the social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental). We have adopted an integrative approach to constructing these composite indicators in which we pragmatically select and incorporate a variety of techniques with the purpose of maximizing the validity of the end results. The findings with respect to Australians’ critical open-mindedness, both in general and in reference to its five dimensions are discussed. We have also developed and examined a social psychological index of ‘socio-cognitive open-mindedness’ inspired by a number of commonly used international scales and by drawing on the same dataset. We have shown that these two types of open-mindedness are qualitatively different. Our analysis does not support the idea that individuals’ social psychological open-mindedness determines their critical open-mindedness. It is rather the opposite which is the case.