ABBOTT L. FERRISS
SELECTIONS FROM S I N E T The Social Indicators Network News
(Accepted 28 January, 1994)
Another Textbook on Social Indicators
Robert. V. Horn has published a textbook on economic and social indicators, adding to the three textbooks currently in print. His new volume includes methodology for developing and analyzing indicators and the applications of them in the social sciences. The chapter, Social Applications of Indicators, explores indicator uses in fields of health, education, intelligence, science, environment, culture, human rights, war and peace, politics, merit performance, status, time use and urban studies. Statistical Indicators for Economic and Social Sciences, Victoria, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 1993. pp. 225, 70 tables; hardback Austr. $70.00, paperback Austr. $29.95. Other texts on social indicators are: Duncan MacRae, Jr., Policy Indicators, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985. Judith de Neufville, Social Indicators and Public Policy, Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier, 1975; reissued 1988 by Transaction Books, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Martin Greenberger, Matthew A. Crensen and Brian L. Crissey, Models in the Policy Process: Public Decision Making in the Computer Era, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1976. OECD Releases Indicators Comparing Education in Twenty Countries
In a development program that began in November 1987, the OECD International Education Indicators Project has published a set of about Social Indicators Research 35: 339-342, 1995. © 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
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30 indicators comparing education in 20 countries for the 1988 school year. Plans are being carried out to assemble indicators for the 1991 school year. Under "Costs, Resources and School Processes," are listed eight indicators on expenditure on education, two indicators on human resources, six indicators on population and student flows, and five indicators on decision-making characteristics of the school system. Under "Demographic, Economic and Social Context," are presented tbur indicators of demographic factors and one of economic factors. Under the"Outcomes of Education" are presented five indicators of educational attainment, three of learning outcomes, and two of status after schooling. Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators, Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1992; pp. 148, 35 tables, 42 graphs; 0SBN 92-64-03692-X). In a meeting in Paris, January 25-26, 1993, experts reviewed the volume and offered criticisms. They included Prof. Erik Hanushek (U.S.), Sir Claus Moser (U.K.), and Prof. Francois Orivel (Fr.). Several critical issues were identified: EAG 1 inadequately addresses interests of business, industry and the general public. Progress is needed for indicators on outcomes of education. More information is needed on the demographic, cultural and ecological contexts in which education systems operate. Time series and forecasts should be included in future editions. How indicators can be fruitfully employed in decision-making is needed. Studies at national levels are going forward. Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France and the U.S. each are studying country-specific, within-system sets of indicators. Reports have been released for France, Denmark and the U.S. Models for analysis of education indicators and other relevant papers are included in a companion volume: The OECD International Education Indicators: A Framework for Analysis, Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1992, pp. 118.
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Development Indicators of170 Countries The World Bank has compiled a collection of detailed country-bycountry social indicators for 170 economies, the data are available in published form and on diskette. Included for each countD' are size, growth, structure of population, determinants of population growth, fertility, infant mortality, labor force, natural resources, income and poverty, expenditures for food, housing, fuel and power, and n'ansport and communication, investment in medical care and education, etc. Data are arranged by three time periods: the mid-sixties, the midseventies, and the most recent estimate, usually 1990. Social Indicators of Development 1991-92, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press (for the World Bank), 1993. pp. 398, ISBN 0-8018-4330-0, $24.95, order stock # 44330. Social Indicators of Development 1991-92 Data on Diskette, ISBN 0-8213-2140-4, $70.00, order stock # 12140. Worm Economic, Environmental and Social Trends The gross world product per person has risen steadily since 1950, according to one of 30 "key" indicators, prepared from the global vantage of the Worldwatch Institute. Selected indicators of environmental, economic and social trends, usually 1950 to 1990, chart the many influences "shaping our future." Vital Signs, 1992: Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, New York, London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1992, a publication of the Worldwatch Institute, pp. 131, U.S.$10.95. In text, table and graph the volume is a handy reference to the companion volume, The State of the Worm 1992, of the Worldwatch Institute. In making objective the multiple trends that impinge upon us, the volume helps dispel many uncertainties and doubts while at the same time it reveals some environmental, economic mad social sectors that require attention. Careful documentation also enhances the usefulness of the book. Three social trends are included: the upward march of population, the declining infant mortality rate, and the leveling off in cigarette production per person.
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World military expenditures are falling and are projected to fall even further. The nuclear warhead arsenal is declining. In the environmental sector, birds are fast disappearing and forests where they live are being cut away. Nuclear waste is accumulating. The world trades more in military arms than in grains. Five bushels of wheat were exchanged in 1991 for one barrel of oil, but it was eight bushels for one barrel in 1982. Grain harvest and fish production are down but both soybean and meat production recently have increased. In the growing of agricultural products, the world area per person devoted to grain has declined since before 1960, the expansion of irrigated land is slowing, and the world use of fertilizer peaked in 1989 and now is falling. Overall, world energy efficiency, which has improved since about 1970, slowed slightly in 1991. The use of solar energy, wind and natural gas are increasing, while nuclear power use is stalled and oil production is fairly constant. Applying Social Science To Achieve a Better Society More than 40 papers were present June 25-27, 1992, at a conference on Towards the Good Society: Applying the Social Sciences, at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. It was sponsored by the Work Group on Social Indicators of the International Sociological Association. Papers were presented by scholars drawn chiefly from Europe on quality of life, welfare, social equality, attitudes, social policies, happiness and life satisfaction, education, and other topics. For more information on the conference and the availability of copies of the papers, address Prof. Dr. Ruut Veenhoven, Dept. of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, E O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Editor's Note: Readers' contributions to this department should be addressed to: Abbott L. Ferriss, Editor, SINET, E O. Box 24064, Emory University Station, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A.)
