Ricerc@Sapienza

The measurement in socioeconomic context is achieved as a consequence of a definition confirmed through the relationship observed between observations and the concept to be measured. Almost all the measures developed in social sciences belong to this group. The measures developed in this context are defined indicators.

Systems of indicators are produced by the proper and accurate application of the hierarchical design (indicators construction) and do not represent pure and simple collections of indicators. In this complex structure, each indicatormeasures and represents a distinct constituent of the defined phenomenon.

Scaling models refer to a group of analytical approaches allowing a multi-item scale to be assessed.

Indicators developed through the hierarchical design form a complex system. This characteristic may require approaches allowing more concise views able to summarizing the complexity (synthesis).
Synthesis concerns different aspects of the system (Maggino, 2017):

Developing indicators depends on the definition of a conceptual framework and proceeds through a hierarchical design, requiring the definition of the different subsequent components.

We present a statistical analysis aimed at investigating the quality of the health domain of BES in South Tyrol. After having summarized the academic debate on the distinction between objective and subjective indicators and on the use of subjective measures in policy making, we illustrate the rationale behind the approach adopted to interpret the available data. We observe how the heterogeneity of the stakeholders influences the way in which information is turned into policy action and the conflicts of interests that might arise must be resolved.