Indicator
OECD, Glossary of Key Terms In Evaluation, 2002
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Professor Leslie Pal notes that indicators come in various forms-- they may be produced routinely by programs and governments (in the form of annual reports or Statistics Canada data, for instance) or brought forward by interest groups, think-tanks, and foundations to orient indicators to their cause(s) in order to bring attention to given issues or problems.
When evaluated at regular intervals, an indicator can point out the direction of change across different units and through time. (Nardo et al., in Manning et al, 2006, p7)