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A conceptual model of the world.
The model represents how we look at the world in the context of the goals. It serves to delineate the system which should be monitored. It provides a framework which relates the indicators to each other in the context of the overall system being monitored.
A set of indicators.
The indicators characterize the system being examined in a meaningful way for the users.
A methodology for data collection.
Carefully laid out procedures which address the practical and technical issues involved in data collection must be established to ensure accuracy, consistency and statistical robustness.
A methodology for calculating indicators.
The data collected will have to be manipulated in order to derive values for the indicators. Again, a method to do this accurately, consistently and in a statistically appropriate manner is required.
A process for synthesis.
Synthesizing the information that the indicators provide into an overall picture of the status of the system is essential to completing the central task of the monitoring program, that is, to assess progress towards the human goals which motivated the enterprise.
A methodology for reporting.
The values of the indicators and the results of the system assessment must be reported to the intended audience or users of the information. A methodology for presenting it in a clear, purposeful, and timely manner for decision making is crucial to the utility and success of the monitoring program.
Indicator development is but one aspect of a monitoring programme.
Indicators are only useful in the context of a fundamental understanding of how the system works. Indicators cannot substitute for this understanding.
Updated 17 October, 1998
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