The SPI is
interpreted much like an intelligence quotient (IQ), with an average of 100. A
high value reflects undesirable social problem levels and represents the extent
of "social malaise".
In order to compare scores over time, the value of
100 was assigned to Canada's SPI for 1956. SPI values for other years were
calculated in relation to the 1956 score. The results show that, with the
exception of 1996, our social problem rates have been rising steadily.
Furthermore, SPI values increase significantly as we move from east to west
across Canada. The SPI values for 2001 will be published here as soon as the
data have been tabulated. |
Derivation. In the early seventies, a serendipidous
observation that provinces with high homicide rates also showed high rates of
suicide and divorce, led to a more systematic examination of these, and other
social problems. The eight factors listed above showed high intercorrelations
across provinces (Such data were not recorded for Canada's territories at that
time). A principal components analysis of these data showed that the eight
problems could be efficiently described by a single index that accounted for
about 64% of the variability among the eight factors. Findings were very much
alike for both 1971 and 1981.
A paper describing the SPI has been published
in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Click here to view.
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