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435 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1978)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0435 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE* This is the third time that THE ANNALS has devoted a special issue to the subject of social indicators. In May 1967, a two-volume edition appeared under the title, Social Goals and Indicators for American Society. In January 1971, a volume on Social Information for Developing Countries was published. The title of the present volume, America in the Seventies: Some Social Indicators, reflects a recognition of the fact that, though many new statistical series have been developed, it is not possible to set forth a single or even a small number of summary indicators of social welfare which would meet with general acceptance. Robert Parke and David Seidman's contribution to this issue describes some of the efforts that have been devoted to the development of social indicators since Raymond Bauer, in 1966, issued his volume under that title and THE ANNALS devoted its May 1967 issue to an exploration of objectives and of data availability and data needs. There has been a growing recognition that statistical reports are not normative indicators; that in fact they often are ambiguous. Ida Merriam illustrates this when she writes: An increase in expenditures for' unem- ployment insurance signals both a weakness in the economy that should disturb us and a strength in the protection of individuals and families that marks an effective social welfare system. The report Social Indicators, 1973, issued by the Office of Management and Budget clearly recognized this ambiguity and made no effort to draw conclusions for policy from the numerous series which were presented. The successor report, Social Indicators, 1976, observed the same limitation. Nevertheless the data presented have a significance that goes well beyond the description of trends and patterns which is given by the tables and charts in that report. The present issue of THE ANNALS was planned to provide insights into the significance of these patterns and trends. The authors were invited to interpret the data, to give their own views of the significance of the trends to American society, and to observe interrelations as well as im- plications for policy and for the future. They were not limited to the assumptions which underlay the choices of particular series presented in Social Indicators, 1976. They were encouraged to criticize the choices that had been made and to draw attention to other data, presented in the text of the article, if it was their conclusion that such data would have provided greater insights into significant developments. The readers of these articles will want to refer to the recently issued Social Indicators, 1976 for more detailed sets of data and for comments on the * A grant from the National Science Foundation (SOC 76-80262) helped make publication of this volume of THE ANNALS possible. The American Academy of Political and Social Sciences is grateful for this support. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. vii

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