1. Work A: We are asking you to compare the relative performance of South Africa and five other reference countries of your choosing; think about what will make useful or interesting comparisons (by region, level of development, etc.). Create a new spreadsheet and enter all six countries: South Africa and the five comparators. In the first two columns, report the countries' GNI per capita and their rank on that measure. In the next two columns, report the scores and rank of each of these same countries on the HDI. Describe some of the discrepancies you see: cases in which the ranking on GDP per capita is significantly higher or lower than their ranking on the HDI. What might this be telling us about these cases?
2. Work B: Your final task is to construct TWO of your own indices. Go back to the main section of the webpage entitled Data Tools and Visualization and click on "DIY: HDI Build Your Own Index." This gives you access to a large number of different indicators, in seven large categories (health, education, income, inequality, poverty, gender, sustainability. The raw data is accessed by clicking on as many of these broad categories as you choose, opening that category, and then clicking on the small blue circle with "i" inside.) You can then select as many indicators as you like, assign a weight to that indicator and and the site will automatically compute the rank of all countries with available information. [Be aware: the site is not flawless; check the information and watch for potential errors, such as the index counting missing data as a "zero."] Construct two different indexes that show your country in a somewhat different position compared to its five comparison countries.
Requirement:
On one page, take about two-three paragraphs to describe and discuss your indicators. Why did you choose the indicators that you did? What do they show? On the second page, print out the section from your spreadsheet where you show the scores and/or ranks of the six countries on the different indicators: GNI per capita; HDI; and your two indices. This will be a Table. Refer to this table in your written discussion.