Abstract
Empirical evidence is presented which suggests that the use of social indicators among upper level government officials in the United States is minimal at present. Further, the level of use is not likely to be increased by improved measurement procedures, aesthetically improved packaging, or more widespread dissemination of such information among persons who influence policy decisions. The power of such information can be expected to be no greater than that of ‘mere’ statistics unless deliberate effort is made to institutionalize the importance of social indicators into government operations in conjunction with policy planning, goal setting, and commitment to the use of indicators as a system of national evaluation of progress toward the achievement of societal objectives. Several recommendations are made to develop the potential of social indicators and to increase their creative and useful application in matters of public policy at the national level.
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The research reported here has been funded through Grant No. SOC 75-15800 from the National Science Foundation, whose support we gratefully acknowledge. The interpretations and conclusions are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding source. We wish to express our appreciation to Daniel Tunstall with whom we had many long discussion prior to the research, as well as to the respondents who participated in the study; also to Frances Updike Simonds and Sally Brenner for their assistance in preparing the manuscript.
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Caplan, N., Barton, E. The potential of social indicators: Minimum conditions for impact at the national level as suggested by a study of the use of ‘social indicators’ 73. Social Indicators Research 5, 427–456 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00352942
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00352942