Preliminary Stage Case Study Examples

Human Development is the concept of enhancing the experience of human existence in terms of several factors that affect the lives of humans. Different people have different interests, needs, strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities. Thus, human development is not just about creating multiple avenues for humans to develop their lives, but also to make these avenues for development very accessible to any human being. Human Development emphasizes that good economic status is very important but is simply a means to a much more important end—the wellbeing of humans. The goal of human development is to make every human being live a long, productive, healthy, and happy life. A long and healthy life is possible when there is access to a decent standard of living. A productive life is possible when there is access to proper education. A happy life is possible when there is opportunity to socialize to a decent community. To achieve all these different aspects of good life, the main thing that should be present is human freedom. Essentially, these goals can be divided into three main aspects: (1) longevity of life, (2) productivity in life, and (3) happiness in life.
This study will focus on one aspect: the longevity of life. From the data, three variables are chosen that would represent the concept of longevity of life. The first variable is “Life expectancy at birth (years).” The second variable is “Gross national income (GNI) per capita.” The third variable is “Unemployment rate (% aged 15 years and older).”
The first variable “Life expectancy at birth (years)” is a measure of how long a newborn infant would live assuming the factors affecting mortality are the same throughout the infant’s life. This is a direct measure of how long a particular citizen of a country is expected to live. The unit for this variable is years. This is probably measured by taking the average of the ages of all the recorded deaths in the country. This is directly related to longevity of life because it measures long a human being is expected to live. This variable only takes into consideration the age of the people at the time of their death.
The second variable “Gross national income (GNI) per capita (2011 PPP $)” is a measure of how much the economy of a country is earning for each citizen of the country. The unit is in international dollars using PPP rates per capita. This variable is measured by getting the total revenues of the country’s economy, minus the external (or outside of the country) expenses, divided by the midyear population of the country. This variable is a direct indication of how productive is the economy of a country in relation to the magnitude of its population. This variable will be used to relate the effects of a country’s economy to the longevity of the lives of its citizens.
The third variable “Unemployment rate (% aged 15 years and older)” is a measure of how much in percentage of population of a country is unemployed or does not have a regular monthly income. The population considered in this variable is aged 15 years and older (the ones eligible to work). This variable indirectly measures how much of the population are in not-so-decent economic status. This variable is studied of its effect on the longevity of life.
It is observed that many countries with high GNI per capita have low unemployment rates. This trend is predominant in the countries in the Middle East. However, many of these Middle East countries have below 80 years life expectancy. Some countries in South America have low GNI per capita but also low unemployment rates. Several low GNI per capita countries are observed to have life expectancy lower than 72.
This study aims to establish a direct relationship between GNI per capita, unemployment rate, and life expectancy. The hypothesis is that if a country has a high GNI per capita and low unemployment rate, the life expectancy is high.