Steps in the Calculation
Generally speaking, there are four stages in constructing an index such as the CSGR Globalisation Index, or the well-known UNDP Human Development Index (HDI).
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First, a judgement is made about the “relevant variables” that should enter the index.
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Second, quantitative i.e. numerical measures of these variables are found – here, data constraints are important.
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Third, these quantitative measures are normalised, to deal with the problem that different variables are typically measured in different units and therefore may have very different average numerical values.
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Fourth, an average or weighted average of the normalised variables is calculated, which gives a numerical score for each country in each year.
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Fifth, the numerical scores are used to determine country rankings.
In our case, this five-step procedure is slightly more complex, as we first construct three separate sub-indices of globalisation (economic, social, and political) following steps 1-5. The country rankings derived from these indices are reported separately on our website. We then calculate the simple unweighted average of these three sub-indices to give an overall globalisation index; the country rankings derived from this overall globalisation index are reported, along with the rankings from the separate economic, social, and political dimensions, giving four rankings in all.