Back | Programme Area: Promoting a Holistic and Multidisciplinary Approach to Social Development
Monitoring Social Progress in the 1990s: Data Constraints, Concerns and Priorities
Edited volume by David Westendorff and Dharam Ghai.
This book sets out to present the major directions in the development and application of data and indicators for purposes of monitoring social progress in developing countries. One of the major conclusions of the work is that the proliferation of data on a wide range of phenomena thought useful for measuring development has yet to be matched by significant improvements in the reliability of the data. As a result, many assessments of social conditions are likely to be critically flawed. Good policy requires good information. This collection discusses ways to improve the information underpinning public decision making in developing countries. Individual chapters address the methodological, organizational and institutional factors hindering the acquisition of more timely and accurate social data and indicators. Contributors to this collection are internationally recognized experts in their fields, with long experience in efforts to measure socio-economic conditions in developing countries.
Contents: Introduction; Concepts and Indicators of Social Welfare: Income and alternative measures of well-being; Development data constraints and the human development index; Qualitative indicators of development; Data Collection and Analysis at the Country Level: Monitoring living conditions and consumption patterns in Kenya in the 1970s and 1980s - a case study; National sample surveys on consumer expenditure and living standard measurement in India; Social indicators in Côte d'Ivoire; New Methods and Techniques for Data Collection: Indicators for monitoring the social dimensions of adjustment; A review of low-cost data collection techniques and recommendations for RASP; Poverty monitoring in the rural sector; The use of socio-economic indicators for evaluating progress in implementing the programme of action of the world conference of agrarian reform and rural development; New Topics in Social Development Indicators: The measurement of women's economic activities: assessing the theoretical and practical work of two decades; The contribution of non-monetized working time in the Spanish economy; Construction and use of an index of democracy; Equity and valuation of environmental destruction.
- Publication and ordering details
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Pub. Date: 1 Jan 1993
Pub. Place: Aldershot
ISBN: 1 85628 565 0
Type: Hardback
From: Avebury