Stefan Andreas Sperlich
The number of composite indices that are constructed and used internationally is growing very fast; but whilst the complexity of quantitative techniques has increased dramatically, the education and training in this area has been dragging and lagging behind. As a consequence, these simple numbers, expected to synthesize quite complex issues, are often presented to the public and used in the political debate without proper emphasis on their intrinsic limitations and correct interpretations. In this course on global statistics, offered by the University of Geneva jointly with the ETH Zurich KOF, you will learn the general approach of constructing composite indices and some of resulting problems. We will discuss the technical properties, the internal structure (like aggregation, weighting, stability of time series), the primary data used and the variable selection methods. These concepts will be illustrated using a sample of the most popular composite indices. We will try to address not only statistical questions but also focus on the distinction between policy–, media– and paradigm–driven indicators.
Instructor Details
Courses : 1
Specification: Global Statistics – Composite Indices for International Comparisons
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7 reviews for Global Statistics – Composite Indices for International Comparisons
Add a review
| Price | Free |
|---|---|
| Provider | |
| Duration | 18 hours |
| Year | 2018 |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Language | English |
| Certificate | Yes |
| Quizzes | No |
FREE
Stellios S –
With CIs everywhere, this is a nice course for a wider audience to get an understanding of how they get constructed and matters that have to be taken into account while doing so. Plenty of use–cases about well–known indices and presentations from people involved in their creation. If you are working with data, it is highly likely that you may come up with ideas in the end!
Mohamed A M J –
Eventhough this isn’t something I want to particularly do in the future I would like to say that I have enjoyed learning about composite indicators. I would highly recommend this MOOC to anyone.
Liliana F D V A –
This is definitely a great course to acquire a real grasp of the methodology required for the construction of composite indices! The multiple examples provided in the different modules were definitely eye openers to the wide array of composite indices that are being used world wide. An element I felt missing though was a deeper explanation of the robustness tests each organization developed to chose their final indices. I believe a great follow up for this course would be the design of a specialization program with multiple courses that could go deeper into the technical aspects of the construction of composite indices (aggregation, elasticity, weights, and robustness tests) through a hands–on approach and a Capstone project in which students could apply all their knowledge for the proper construction of a composite index.
Jose L V P –
Ha sido un curso genial. Realmente didactico y formal.
Vianney B B E M –
Ce cours m’a permis de comprendre la theorie et les methodes utilisees pour elaborer les indices composites qui, jusque la, etaient des “boites noires”. J’ai pu en saisir toute la richesse analytique. Je me rejouis d’utiliser et de partager les acquis de ce cours avec toutes les personnes partageant les memes preoccupations : rendre intelligible une grande quantite d’informations en les synthetisant en une grandeur explicite, informative. Je recommande vivement le suivi de ce cours.
Saad N –
Well structured course with many popular examples. I was looking for such course for a long time and this course really satisfies my needs.
Igor C –
The support material, especially in the two first weeks, could be simplified (eg, the powerpoints could be presented in another format, reducing the dozens of pages by at least a half).