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This book provides a systematic and integrated approach to construct measures of complex and multidimensional concepts called composite indicators. One of the most pressing needs of scientists and policy makers is to measure phenomena that are important to our lives in society using numbers, to observe their evolution over time, and to analyse the relationships between them in order to understand the complex reality and decide on the right actions to achieve specific goals. Many socio-economic phenomena, as well as ecological, biological and of other sciences, are multidimensional and, to be measured, require the use of statistical-mathematical techniques that facilitate their reading and use for studies and analyses. This book is a guide to the knowledge and application of statistical tools suitable for the construction of optimal composite indicators, i.e. indicators that provide the most accurate measure of multidimensional reality. The book is aimed at all those - statisticians, sociologists, economists, and policy makers - who wish to construct composite indicators to measure and evaluate the complex reality that surrounds us.
List of contents
1 Definition of the problem.- 2 Theoretical model.- 3 Composite indicators construction.- 4 Applications to real data.- 5 Some indices known in literature.
About the author
Matteo Mazziotta has a PhD in “Methods for socio-economic analysis” from the Sapienza University of Rome. He is the Director of “National Statistical System and Territory” of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) and past General Secretary of the Italian Society of Economics, Demography and Statistics (SIEDS). His research interests include methods for the construction of composite indicators and multivariate data analysis. He is the author of numerous articles in academic journals and co-author of three books: “Gli indici sintetici” (2020), “Open issues in composite indicators. A starting point and a reference on some state-of-the-art issues” (2021) and “Statistica per gli indici compositi” (2024).
Adriano Pareto has a PhD in “Methodological Statistics” from the Sapienza University of Rome. He is a senior researcher at the “Methodology and Statistical Process Design” Directorate of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) and a member of the Italian Statistical Society (SIS). His research interests include methods for the construction of composite indicators and data mining. He is the author of numerous articles in academic journals such as Statistical Papers, Social Indicators Research, Quality and Quantity and Environmetrics. He is also co-author of three books: “Gli indici sintetici” (2020), “Open issues in composite indicators. A starting point and a reference on some state-of-the-art issues” (2021) and “Statistica per gli indici compositi” (2024).
Summary
This book provides a systematic and integrated approach to construct measures of complex and multidimensional concepts called composite indicators. One of the most pressing needs of scientists and policy makers is to measure phenomena that are important to our lives in society using numbers, to observe their evolution over time, and to analyse the relationships between them in order to understand the complex reality and decide on the right actions to achieve specific goals. Many socio-economic phenomena, as well as ecological, biological and of other sciences, are multidimensional and, to be measured, require the use of statistical-mathematical techniques that facilitate their reading and use for studies and analyses. This book is a guide to the knowledge and application of statistical tools suitable for the construction of “optimal” composite indicators, i.e. indicators that provide the most accurate measure of multidimensional reality. The book is aimed at all those - statisticians, sociologists, economists, and policy makers - who wish to construct composite indicators to measure and evaluate the complex reality that surrounds us.
