ABSTRACT
A major barrier to the quantitative investigation of interactions between economic and non-economic influences in economic development is the lack ofadequate indicators of institutional traits of nations. Our purpose in this paper is to consider the methodological procedures involved in the development of qualitative sociopolitical and economic indicators.
The first sections of the paper deal with various aspects related to the subject of measurement. This is necessary because misconceptions regarding the nature of ‘qualitative measurement ’ are common, and misleading contrasts between qualitative and quantitative measurement are frequently made. The last four sections illustrate the procedures for the measurement of institutional indicators by applying them to the quantification of the concept of political participation in developing countries.
