Strengths and Limitations of Measurement Approaches
Measuring Development
AO3
Syllabus requirement
Evaluation of the usefulness, reliability, and biases of both single and composite development indicators.
Assessment objectives
AO3 Synthesis and Evaluation
Summary
This topic evaluates the strengths and limitations of common measures of economic development and the possible relationship between economic growth and development. It explains why single indicators such as GDP per capita fail to capture qualitative aspects of well-being, describes composite measures (HDI, IHDI, GII, HPI), and shows how growth can exist without broader development using examples and a PPC diagram. Understanding these measurement issues matters for comparing countries and designing policy priorities.