New Goals for Social Information

Abstract

In this period of confusing social change, a do mestic "intelligence gap" impedes rational consideration of both public and private policy choices. An intelligent strategy for narrowing this gap requires action on many fronts. One of these is to remedy the "concept lag" produced by the comparability-relevance conflict and other factors. As indi cated by the table "Indicator Suggestions" (and the similar table in the Gross-Springer article in the May 1967 volume of THE ANNALS), this is the main task assumed by most of the authors in both volumes. Instead of discussing statistical techniques, they have concentrated on conceptual innovations that make it possible to upgrade obsolescent data and obtain new forms of social information, both quantitative and qualitative.