Methodology

Social progress is “society's ability to meet basic human needs, establish the structures that ensure quality of life for citizens and provide opportunities for all individuals to reach their full potential”. Based on this concept, the Social Progress Index (SPI) is formulated based on four main principles.

SPI Principles

  • Exclusively social and environmental indicators: the aim of SPI is to measure social and environmental progress directly, without including economic indicators.
  • Focus on results: SPI should measure the results that are important to people's lives (outcomes), not the investments or efforts made (inputs).
  • Guidance for public policies and private social investments: SPI is used as a practical tool to help public officials, business leaders and civil society in the planning, implementation and evaluation of philanthropic policies and programs that accelerate social progress.
  • Relevance: the aim of SPI is to measure social and environmental progress in a holistic and broad way, encompassing all geographical regions such as countries, states, municipalities and even districts and communities within municipalities.

Dimensions

SPI is divided into three dimensions, each of which is divided into four components. The dimensions covered by SPI are:

  • Human Needs - Is a country, state or municipality able to guarantee the most basic human needs for its population?
  • Foundations of Wellbeing - Are there vital elements that guarantee people and communities the chance to provide and maintain their wellbeing?
  • Opportunities - Are there opportunities in society for all individuals to reach their full potential?

The first dimension, Basic Needs, measures whether a country and/or region is able to provide for the essential needs of its population. This dimension measures whether people have enough to eat, whether they are receiving basic medical care, whether they have access to drinking water, whether they have adequate access to housing with basic services and whether they are safe and secure.

The second dimension, Fundamentals of Wellbeing, measures whether a population has access to quality basic education and communication and whether they are able to live with health, wellbeing and quality of life. This dimension also assesses whether society manages to live in an environmentally sustainable way and whether it guarantees the existence of natural resources (forest, water) for future generations.

The third dimension, Opportunity, measures the degree to which a society is free from restrictions on its own rights and its individuals are able to make their own decisions, and whether there are prejudices and hostilities that prevent individuals from reaching their full potential.

Components and Indicators

To calculate the 2024 SPI Brazil, we used a total of 53 indicators. All these indicators come from official sources and research institutes, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Citizenship, National Sanitation Information System (SNIS), National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), National Council of Justice (CNJ), Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Mapbiomas, Anatel, CadÚnico, among others.

  • Be social or environmental;
  • Measure results;
  • Have a reliable and public source (secondary data);
  • Be recent (maximum 5 years);

The Social Progress Index methodology is structured into three dimensions and 12 components. Each of the components covers 3 to 6 indicators. The methodology uses Cronbach's Alpha and KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) tools to estimate the reliability and consistency of the data. The data is then adjusted and normalized to make it comparable. In addition, the utopias and dystopias for each indicator are also delimited, identified on a case-by-case basis.