Strengths and Limitations of Measurements

Single Indicators (AO3)

Strengths: 

• Relatively easy to measure

• Requires less processing, and no formula needs to be created

• Can be analyzed alongside other single indicators to make people see the whole state of a country

Weaknesses: 

• Only reveal information about one very specific category

• Does not reveal the whole picture of an economy's development, despite many using them that way 

  • • GDP per capita is often used for measuring how rich people are, even though it does not measure that, and is just one indicator.

• They do not account for outside effects 

  • • If there was a major earthquake in a country, its life expectancy indicator will go down even though this was a one-off event the economy had no control over

• Can be easily tampered with

Composite Indicators (AO3)

Strengths: 

• Provide a more holistic view of the economy

• Includes more variables, and may hence be a more accurate way to measure economic development

Weaknesses: 

• It may be unclear how much reasoning is put into creating the formulas

  • • For the "Happy Planet Index", the formula is (Well-being x Life expectancy x Inequality) / Ecological footprint. Why? And how do we know this is accurate?

• It requires more processing, and more data points are needed; Many countries may not have all the needed figures available until many years later

• Can be tampered with