provide a firm basis for social policies and planning. In this age of empi­ ricism, one could formulate a hypothesis on social development and policies, but unhappily find no available statistical base for testing it. 14 President's Commission on National Goals, Goals for Americans (New York, Prentice-Hall, 1960). 15 Michael Springer, "Social indicators, reports, and accounts: toward the management of society", Annuals of American Academy of Political and Social Science, March 1970, pp. 1-13. 16 Nancy Baster, "Development indicators: an introduction", Journal of Development Studies, vol. VIII, No. 3, April 1972, p. 5. 17 Towards System of Social and Demographic Statistics, op. cit., p. 6. 41 Lack of data and analysis is, indeed, one of the basic stumbling blocks in persuading planners and policy-makers in developing countries of the importance and need for social development policies. D. DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL INDICATORS 25. Given the delineations of definition and purpose of social indi­ cators discussed, it is one thing to say that social indicators are to indi­ cate social values and goals and to measure individual well-being or general welfare, but another thing to represent them in terms of statis­ tics, statistical series or other forms of evidence. Were there established theories on what is to be measured, developing a conceptual framework for social indicators would be a rather straightforward task. Unfor­ tunately, there is no definition or theory to explain the ultimate concern of social indicators and their hierarchical structure. In addition, basic and higher-level human desires and needs, the fulfilment of which could be recorded as the level and progress of living conditions, are numerous and diversified at a given time and endlessly changing over time. 26. Because of these constraints and difficulties, there have been numerous attempts to develop, first, a conceptual framework for social indicators and, then, to provide statistical contents for it. Because of the 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the concept of social indicators and their importance in social development and policy-making, particularly in developing countries. It highlights the challenges in establishing a conceptual framework and statistical basis for social indicators, which are intended to measure social values, goals, and individual well-being. The text does not explicitly focus on a specific sector or industry, but rather on the broader concept of social development and policy-making.

**Category**
Education, Health