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A Research Note on Statistical Methods Used to Create Indices of Child Well-Being

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Abstract

Growing numbers of researchers are combining individual indicators of child well-being into overall indices. This research note examines five different methodologies that have been used to construct an overall index of child well-being. All five methods are applied to four datasets and the results are examined in terms of consistency of results across methods. The datasets reflect child well-being indicators at the country, state, county, and neighborhood levels. The results show that all five of the approaches to index construction examined here produce very similar results. This is reflected in very high correlation coefficients with index values and rankings across geographic units. The findings suggest that rankings of geographic units on child well-being indices are likely to be robust regardless of the particular index methodology used.

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  1. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 4228 Red Bandana Way, Ellicott City, MD, 21042, USA

    William P. O’Hare

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  1. William P. O’Hare
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Correspondence to William P. O’Hare.

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O’Hare, W.P. A Research Note on Statistical Methods Used to Create Indices of Child Well-Being. Child Ind Res 8, 279–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9244-8

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