Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In statistics and research design, an index is a composite statistic – a measure of changes in a representative group of individual data points, or in other words, a compound measure that aggregates multiple indicators. [1] [2] Indices – also known as indexes and composite indicators – summarize and rank specific observations. [2]
All superlative indices produce similar results and are generally the favored formulas for calculating price indices. [14] A superlative index is defined technically as "an index that is exact for a flexible functional form that can provide a second-order approximation to other twice-differentiable functions around the same point." [15]
Composite measure in statistics and research design refer to composite measures of variables, i.e. measurements based on multiple data items. [1]An example of a composite measure is an IQ test, which gives a single score based on a series of responses to various questions.
A Törnqvist quantity index can be calculated analogously using prices for weights. Quantity indexes are used in computing aggregate indexes for physical "capital" summarizing equipment and structures of different types into one time series. Swapping p's for q's and q's for p's gives an equation for a quantity index:
Index numbers are used especially to compare business activity, the cost of living, and employment. They enable economists to reduce unwieldy business data into easily understood terms. In contrast to a cost-of-living index based on the true but unknown utility function, a superlative index number is an index number that can be calculated. [1]
The most commonly used index from the family, FGT 2, puts higher weight on the poverty of the poorest individuals, making it a combined measure of poverty and income inequality and a popular choice within development economics. The indices were introduced in a 1984 paper by economists Erik Thorbecke, Joel Greer, and James Foster. [1] [2]
The Theil index is a statistic primarily used to measure economic inequality [1] and other economic phenomena, though it has also been used to measure racial segregation. [2] [3] The Theil index T T is the same as redundancy in information theory which is the maximum possible entropy of the data minus the observed entropy.
It most commonly refers to an index, called the Balassa index, introduced by Béla Balassa (1965). [1] In particular, the revealed comparative advantage of country c {\displaystyle c} in product/commodity/good p {\displaystyle p} is defined by: