Social Development Index - IDS: comparing the micro-urban realities of the city of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The IDS was inspired by the well-known Human Development Index (HDI), calculated by the UN (UNDP) for numerous countries around the world, which in turn has served as the basis for the construction of a series of other composite indices. Its purpose is to measure the degree of social development of a given geographic area in comparison with others of the same nature. Like any synthetic index of this type, the IDS combines, in a specific way, some variables that best characterize various facets of the phenomenon being studied. The choice of variables, a task guided by a theoretical-conceptual analysis, arises from their relevance to the theme, but also from their availability and "statistical quality". A large number of variables composing the index is not necessarily a proof of value, as some may express the same content, creating nothing more than statistical redundancy.