There are various measures of checking socioeconomic development of the developing or least developed countries for examples HDI, PCI, GNI, Gini -coefficient, Gross domestic happiness Index (GDHI). Among them and besides them which parameters give the real situation of socioeconomic development of developing world?
All of these are useful and all have their own specific strengths and weaknesses. Their key merit is that they allow comparison across countries. However, if you have the possibility to collect your own data, you may want to consider the amount of money families spend on 'basics' such as food versus expenditure on consumer goods; or the kind and number of income sources of families, such as paid work, informal self employed, formal self employed, farming.
The 'real situation' depends on what your specific research focus. At the micro level, use indicators like education (years of schooling, level of attainment), health (infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, nutrition, distance to nearest clinic). At the macro level, you may use HDI & Gini coefficient.
There is always the temptation to go for the standard indicators so well demonstrated in the Human Development Reports mainly for the purposes of international comparison. These are good in themselves. But we should not be bound by these indicators alone. I think that policy makers and development practitioners could evolve and clearly define certain socioeconomic indicators that are specific for specific countries or communities. The selection may also be guided by the specific focus of the research. These indicators could be quite detailed to guide decision makers in targeting resources and assistance to particular communities and to have measurable or evidence based outcomes. For example access to water, distance to water sources and possibly availability of potable water. Sources of energy or power has often been overlooked and the list can be extended as much as possible.
However, at the macro level and for simplicity and for world wide comparison purposes, the HDI offers the most reasonable indicators.
I would suggest HDI is combined with
-Gender Gap Index brought out by World Economic Forum http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2014/part-1/
- Rule of Law index by World Justice Project
http://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index
- Environment performance index http://epi.yale.edu/
To me the first is an indicator of human well being, the second of gender inequalities, the third an indicator is whether justice prevails and fourth of environmentally sustainable. The last two are crucial for whether gains are sustainable)
Best
Ranjani
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