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Some Critical Reflections on the Measurement of Social Sustainability and Well-Being in Complex Societies

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Arcagni

    (Department MEMOTEF, University of Rome La Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Marco Fattore

    (Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milan, Italy)

  • Filomena Maggino

    (Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Rome La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Giorgio Vittadini

    (Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

The aim of this discussion paper is to raise awareness of the conceptual and practical limits of mainstream practices in social measurement and to suggest possible directions for social indicator construction, in view of effectively supporting policies for social sustainability and well-being promotion. We start with a review of the epistemological issues raised by the measurement of social phenomena, investigate the notion of social complexity, and discuss the critical link between it and measurement. We then suggest that social indicators should be primarily designed to build structural syntheses of the data, unfolding the patterns and stylizing the complexity of social phenomena, rather than computed pursuing numerical precision, through hardly interpretable aggregated measures. This calls for tools and algorithms capable of rendering structural information, preserving the essential traits of complexity and overcoming the limitations of classical aggregation procedures. We provide some examples along this line, using real data pertaining to regional well-being in OECD countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Arcagni & Marco Fattore & Filomena Maggino & Giorgio Vittadini, 2021. "Some Critical Reflections on the Measurement of Social Sustainability and Well-Being in Complex Societies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12679-:d:680507
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Flavio Comim, 2021. "A Poset-Generalizability Method for Human Development Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 1179-1198, December.
    2. Martin Ravallion, 2012. "Mashup Indices of Development," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 27(1), pages 1-32, February.
    3. Moro, Mirko & Brereton, Finbarr & Ferreira, Susana & Clinch, J. Peter, 2008. "Ranking quality of life using subjective well-being data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 448-460, April.
    4. Daniel T. L. Shek & Florence K. Y. Wu, 2018. "The Social Indicators Movement: Progress, Paradigms, Puzzles, Promise and Potential Research Directions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 975-990, February.
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    2. Cantone, Giulio Giacomo & Tomaselli, Venera, 2024. "On the Coherence of Composite Indexes: Multiversal Model and Specification Analysis for an Index of Well-Being," MetaArXiv d5y26, Center for Open Science.
    3. Seung-Hwan Ham & Rae Young Kim, 2022. "Teachers’ Epistemological Assumptions about Educational Inequality in Four Societies: A Holistic Reading Strategy for Examining Sociocultural Epistemologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-11, February.
    4. repec:osf:metaar:d5y26_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Fredy Calizaya & Luz Gómez & Jorge Zegarra & Melvin Pozo & Carmen Mindani & Cirilo Caira & Elmer Calizaya, 2023. "Unveiling Ancestral Sustainability: A Comprehensive Study of Economic, Environmental, and Social Factors in Potato and Quinoa Cultivation in the Highland Aynokas of Puno, Peru," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-23, September.
    6. Stefania Capecchi & Carmela Cappelli & Maurizio Curtarelli & Francesca Iorio, 2023. "Synthetic indicators to analyze work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors: evidence from the European Working Conditions Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 5713-5735, December.
    7. Mestawot Beyene Tafese & Erika Kopp, 2025. "Embedding Social Sustainability in Education: A Thematic Review of Practices and Trends Across Educational Pathways from a Global Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-20, May.
    8. Stefania Capecchi & Francesca Iorio & Nunzia Nappo, 2024. "Occupational Stress, Working from Home, and Job Sustainability: Another Gender Issue?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 1193-1218, December.

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