Measurements

Social problems – discrimination, constrained mobility, eroded trust, mental health burden, and entrenched bias – are difficult to address partly because they are difficult to measure. India currently lacks validated, psychometrically rigorous instruments for many of the social equity indicators that matter most to researchers, policymakers, and civil society.

India Institute is addressing this gap through a multi-institutional research project – in partnership with the Madras Institute of Development Studies and Christ University Bangalore, and involving nine researchers across institutions – designing, piloting, and field-testing five original measurement instruments. Each instrument is designed to be validated, contextualised to the Indian social context, practical for use without specialist training, and freely available to all users.

1. Perceived Discrimination Scale

Discrimination is experienced across multiple axes – caste, gender, religion, disability, and more. Our Perceived Discrimination Scale captures the frequency, intensity, and domain of discrimination as experienced by respondents, designed to be sensitive to the Indian context and to function across diverse demographic groups.

2. Intergenerational Mobility Index

The ability of individuals to improve their economic and social position relative to the generation before them is a fundamental indicator of whether a society is genuinely open. Our Intergenerational Mobility Index captures movement across economic, educational, and occupational dimensions between generations within families, allowing comparison across caste, region, and gender lines.

3. Social Capital Measure

Social capital – the quality and diversity of social networks, the degree of trust within communities, and the extent to which individuals can draw on collective resources – is both a predictor of individual wellbeing and a marker of community resilience. Our Social Capital Measure captures bonding capital, bridging capital, and institutional trust, with modules adapted for rural and urban contexts.

4. Adolescent Mental Health – Three Generation SDQ

India Institute is using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) – a globally validated and widely used adolescent mental health screening tool – with a novel adaptation for the Indian rural context. While comparison of SDQ responses between adolescents and their parents is well-established in research, our study extends this to grandparents.

In rural India, where joint and multigenerational families remain common, grandparents are often deeply embedded in a child’s daily life and emotional environment. We are testing whether grandparents’ perceptions of adolescent wellbeing add meaningful information beyond what parents report – a three-generation SDQ application that has not been widely studied. If grandparental perception proves significant, it has practical implications for how mental health screening is conducted in rural Indian settings.

5. Casteist Attitudes Scale

Caste-based discrimination persists in India in both explicit and implicit forms. Our Casteist Attitudes Scale uses validated psychometric approaches to measure both explicit caste-based prejudice and more subtle forms of hierarchical thinking, developed in consultation with researchers across sociology, economics, and social psychology.

The five instruments are designed not only to measure each dimension independently but to be used together. One of the core analytical questions driving this project is whether casteist attitudes, perceived discrimination, and adolescent mental health are correlated – and if so, in what directions and with what magnitudes. This kind of multi-dimensional measurement, validated and contextualised for India, is currently absent from the research literature. The samam project aims to fill that gap.

Status and Access

Field testing and validation studies are currently underway across multiple sites. Validation papers, co-authored with MIDS and Christ University Bangalore, are expected from mid-2026. All five instruments will be made freely available for download at indiai.org, along with methodology documentation and guidance for use. Researchers or practitioners wishing to discuss use of the instruments prior to formal publication are welcome to write to indiai@indiai.org.