| Type | Invited lecture (research methodology) |
| Event | 54th Refresher Course in Economics |
| Organized by | HRDC, Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| Location | Online |
| Date | September 27, 2021 |
| Slides | Download the presentation (PDF) |
An invited lecture delivered at the 54th Refresher Course in Economics, HRDC, Jawaharlal Nehru University (September 27, 2021).
In short: A practical methodology for building composite indices in social-science research — how to combine many indicators into a single measure of a complex phenomenon, and the pitfalls to avoid along the way.
About the lecture
This methodology lecture set out how to construct composite indices — single summary measures built from many underlying indicators — for social-science research and policy. It explained why such indices matter (most social phenomena are multidimensional and can’t be captured by one number), walked through the steps of building one rigorously, and grounded the method in a worked empirical example.
What the lecture covered
- Why composite indices — single indicators rarely capture multidimensional social phenomena, and their use has grown substantially as researchers seek better summary measures.
- A step-by-step method — developing a theoretical framework, selecting indicators, collecting data, removing scale bias (ranking, standardisation, and related methods), and assigning weights (equal, subjective, or objective via principal component analysis).
- A worked example — an infrastructure index for Indian states built from telecommunications, transport, banking, and power indicators, demonstrating both the ranking and PCA approaches.
- Benefits and cautions — indices summarise complex issues and support evidence-based policy targeting, but methodological choices must be made carefully to avoid misleading conclusions.
Get the slides
The full presentation is available as a PDF:
⇩ Download the presentation (PDF)