A development indicator is one measure that stands for a wider condition, such as income, health or education. This skill appears in data-response questions: you read the figure, say what it shows, then judge how far it can be trusted. It sits at the start of development and inequality.
All figures in this lesson are invented for practice.
How do you use an indicator step by step?
- Name the measure and its unit. For example, GNI per person in US dollars, or life expectancy at birth in years.
- State what it shows. GNI per person is the total income of a country’s residents divided by its population.
- Read the figure with place and year. Say where it is from and when.
- Name what it hides. Ask about distribution, informal activity, price differences and the part of life the measure does not cover.
- Give a better or additional measure. A second indicator or a breakdown by group answers the weakness you named.
Worked example
A table says Country Z has a GNI per person of US$9,000 in a stated year. Five sampled households earn US$2,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 34,000.
Mean: 2 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 34 = 45, and 45 ÷ 5 = 9, so the mean is US$9,000. That matches the source.
Median: order the values 2, 2, 3, 4, 34. The middle value is 3, so the median is US$3,000.
Interpretation: the figure shows that income is, on average, US$9,000 per person. It hides the fact that four of the five households earn less than the mean. One household earns more than the other four combined (34 compared with 11).
Better evidence: the median, or the share of income received by each fifth of households.
What mistake should you watch for?
Mistaken answer: “Everyone in Country Z earns US$9,000, so people are fairly well off.”
The student has treated the mean as what each person receives. The data above show a very different picture.
The correction is to write “On average, income per person is US$9,000, but this does not show how income is shared, so many people may earn far less.” The words “on average” and “does not show” signal that you know what the figure can and cannot say.
Check yourself
All data are invented.
1. A country has a life expectancy at birth of 74 years. Name one thing this figure does not show.
Show answer
It does not show differences between groups, such as rural and urban areas, or how many years are lived in good health. It also says nothing about income or education.
2. Four households earn 5, 6, 7 and 22 (thousand dollars). Find the mean and the median, then say which describes the typical household better.
Show answer
Mean: 5 + 6 + 7 + 22 = 40, and 40 ÷ 4 = 10. Median: the middle two values are 6 and 7, so (6 + 7) ÷ 2 = 6.5. The median (6.5) describes the typical household better, because one high income pulls the mean up to 10.
3. Rewrite this claim more carefully: “GNI per person shows how happy a country is.”
Show answer
“GNI per person shows the average income of residents, but it does not measure wellbeing, health or how income is shared, so it cannot show how happy people are.”
Where does this lead next?
Next, use two indicators together in comparing indicators without ranking populations’ worth. The statistics and distribution explorer lets you see how a mean and a median move apart. If you want someone to check your written evaluations against the question wording, our teachers offer online one-to-one Geography tuition.