--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/methodological-choices-encountered-in-the-construction-of-composite-indices-of-economic-and-social-well-being/" title: "Methodological Choices Encountered in the Construction of Composite Indices of Economic and Social Well-Being" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T13:59:56+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T13:59:56+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "aggregation" - "composite indices" - "Human Development Index" - "Index of Economic Well-Being" - "methodology" - "scaling" - "weighting" - "well-being measurement" country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # Methodological Choices Encountered in the Construction of Composite Indices of Economic and Social Well-Being Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/methodological-choices-encountered-in-the-construction-of-composite-indices-of-economic-and-social-well-being/ # Methodological Choices Encountered in the Construction of Composite Indices of Economic and Social Well-Being [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2004-05-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Salzman, Julia. 2004. “Methodological Choices Encountered in the Construction of Composite Indices of Economic and Social Well-Being.” CSLS Research Report 2004-05. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/methodological-choices-encountered-in-the-construction-of-composite-indices-of-economic-and-social-well-being/ ## Author: - Julia Salzman Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2004-05 March 2003 33 pages ## Related research [A Survey of Indicators of Economic and Social Well-being Andrew Sharpe July 1999 | Report 1999-cprn | 72 pages](https://csls.ca/research/a-survey-of-indicators-of-economic-and-social-well-being/) [Human Well-being and Economic Well-being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices? 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Unfortunately, the methodological issues associated with index construction have often been neglected or inadequately treated by index developers. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the methodological choices involved in the construction of indexes of economic and social well-being and the implications of the choices for the properties of the index. Building on a recent paper by Booysen (2002) and work done by the United National Development Program (e.g. Anand and Sen, 1994), the paper addresses issues related to the choice of functional form of variables, scaling issues, the aggregation operations, weighting schemes, and the choice between single and complementary composite indexes. A detailed typology of the issues addressed in the paper accompanies this abstract. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations for best-practice methodologies for composite index construction. Au cours des dernières années, un grand nombre d’indices composites de bien-être économique et social ont été élaborés (Hagerty et coll., 2001). Malheureusement, les enjeux méthodologiques associés à la construction de ces indices ont souvent été négligés ou traités de façon inadéquate par leurs concepteurs. L’objectif de cet article est de présenter un examen complet des choix méthodologiques en jeu dans la construction d’indices de bien-être économique et social, ainsi que des répercussions de ces choix sur les propriétés de l’indice. S’appuyant sur un récent article de Booysen (2002) et sur les travaux du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (p. ex. Anand et Sen, 1994), l’article traite des enjeux liés au choix de la forme fonctionnelle des variables, aux enjeux de mise à l’échelle, aux opérations d’agrégation, aux schémas de pondération, et au choix entre indices composites uniques et complémentaires. Une typologie détaillée des enjeux abordés dans l’article accompagne ce résumé. L’article se termine par une liste de recommandations sur les méthodologies exemplaires pour la construction d’indices composites. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2004-05-1.pdf)