Postlude: Past, Present and Future

Recent federal efforts to produce social indicator reports are a partial response to the growing perception that economic indicators alone cannot provide an adequate informational basis for developing viable public policies and programs. That perception stems in part from the rise in public concern regarding the nonmaterial ingredients of the good life and in part from the emergence of a bewildering variety of problem areas whose components include a complex of social, economic, political, and ecological factors. Significant improvements in the state of the art of social reporting await the establishment of an improved data base that would permit more sophisticated analysis of the interplay of environmental and socioeconomic factors, but even if our analytic capabilities are increased, the essential task remains: that of effectively communicating these findings and interpretations to as wide an audience as possible. Such communication will promote informed public consideration of the issues we face and will thereby encourage the development of both public and private policies that reflect a realistic appraisal of our present condition and an appreciation of our goals and aspirations. Social Indicators, 1976, together with this issue of THE ANNALS, represents a modest effort in that direction.