The course aims to introduce students to the topic of statistical indicators and their synthesis, from both conceptual and methodological perspectives, to understand and manage complex socio-economic phenomena and sustainability issues. By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. (KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING) Understand the advantages and disadvantages of a comparative quantitative approach to the study of the social-economic system; 2. (APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING) Demonstrate understanding and knowledge of key data sources and statistical tools to build indicators as well as knowledge of the nature, and measurements of major social-economic and sustainability indicators; 3. (MAKING JUDGEMENTS) Demonstrate the ability to compare different statistical approaches in the construction of composite indicators and to be able to apply them in different contexts. 4. (COMMUNICATION SKILLS) Demonstrate the ability to communicate orally effectively and write the concepts and the appropriate language learned in the course by presenting the report for the final exam. 5. (LEARNING SKILLS) Demonstrate they can apply the knowledge, skills, and minimum competencies required in this syllabus to build social indicators data using available sources.

Students are required to know basic statistics.

The course provides the conceptual and methodological framework to measure, analyze, represent and synthesize systems of indicators, including theoretical and practical lessons devoted to learning statistical tools for the synthesis of systems of indicators. In particular, the topics are: - measurement of complex phenomena. - statistical indicator and type of indicators. - constructing a system of indicators. Examples from main national (e.g. BES) and international (e.g. European Commission's CC-COIN and 2030 Agenda for SDGds) systems. - synthesis of systems of indicators. The aggregative-compensatory approach: normalization methods, weighting, aggregation methods. Notes on the non-aggregative approach. - constructing a synthetic index: hands-on lab.

Main textbook: Mazziotta M., Pareto A. (2025) Statistics for Composite Indicators, Springer Cham. Other references: OECD (2008) Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators. METHODOLOGY AND USER GUIDE, https://www.oecd.org/sdd/42495745.pdf. OTOIU A., PARETO A., GRIMACCIA E, MAZZIOTTA M., TERZI S. (2021) Open issues in composite indicators. A starting point and a reference on some state-of-the-art issues, ROMATRE-PRESS, ISBN: 979-12-5977-001-1. https://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/libro/open-issues-in-composite-indicators-a-starting-point-and-a-reference-on-some-state-of-the-art-issues/ Additional materials (papers, reports, etc.) and information will be available at the course Teams platform and via moodle2 e-learning platform.

Frontal lectures, hands-on laboratory sessions, and seminars delivered by experts. The balance will be roughly 65% of frontal lectures and 35% of hands-on sessions and seminars.

Any changes to the procedures above described will be communicated on the department website.

The final exam will consist of the presentation and discussion, individually or in groups of 2 up to 4 students, on an assigned topic, selecting appropriate indicators and proposing their synthesis using the methods learnt during the course. The writing of a short report is also requested. During the presentations, a few questions will be asked to assess the individual contributions and preparation on the course topics. To obtain the minimum passing grade (18-30 points scale), students must address acceptably the report tasks. Online registration for the exam is mandatory and will be closed 3 days before the due date.

This course provides the conceptual framework and the methodological tools to measure the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).