Description of activities

The Working Group on Composite Indices (WGCI) consists of staff members of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) who are involved in and contribute to the development of composite indices.

Topics of interest that are discussed in the WGCI cover the broad range of problems and risks associated with composite indices and include statistical methodology questions, data quality and coverage issues as well as the potential uses and applications of composite indices in policy and decision-making.

Methodological questions addressed include problems such as the application of statistical methods for variable selection, the derivation of appropriate weighting strategies, and the development of aggregation methods for various types of indices.

Since data quality and coverage remains a considerable constraint in the development of influential indices, WGCI investigates options for the treatment of missing data resulting from unit or item non-response as well as poor data quality. Additional topics discussed are questions relating to the aggregation of data of different scales and units of measurement.

Looking beyond the statistical questions pertaining to composite indices, WGCI also invites experts and policy-makers to discuss the potential conclusions that can be drawn from indices and their application in integrative decision-making.

WGCI organizes seminars on the following issues:

• Presentation of recent work in the field of composite indices.
• Analysis of the statistical properties of composite indices.
• Discussion of the problems and questions arising in the application of composite indices in policy and decision-making.

In addition to the regular group seminars, WGCI organizes seminars addressing a wider audience and perspective on composite indices and to which experts in the field are invited to present and discuss their work. These seminars will be announced appropriately through electronic mail, fliers as well as on our website Upcoming Events.

A selection of presentations given at previous seminars can be found under Previous Events.

WGCI invites you to contact us if you work in the field of composite indices and would like to share your research and experience.

UN Statistics Division
Environment Statistics Section
DC2-1410, TWO United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017, USA
E-mail: contact WGCI
Tel: +1-212-963-8564