Models for Indicator Development: A Framework for Policy Analysis.

Aspects are summarized of a current approach to social indicator research and related problems in policy analysis generated by an interest in isolating major sources of variability in the generation of human welfare and developing indicators associated with welfare-generating processes. A set of models being developed for indicator research is described and some of their implications explored. Suggestions are made for assessing performance from both an institutional perspective and a social perspective. The first section considers sources of variability in welfare generation that can be traced to the processes of transforming resources into welfare outcomes through production or consumption activities. Section 2 discusses extending the models to include sources of variability arising from the institutional settings in which these activities occur. The third section illustrates implications of these models for identifying the information requirements of the client and service providers of a prototypical public school system. (Author/MLF)