I. >> H  uman Rights and Indicators: Rationale and Some Concerns >> Human rights indicators - notion and rationale Fig. IV Categories of indicators used for human rights QUALITATIVE Quantitative Fact-based or objective Judgement-based or subjective Indicator articulated in quantitative form and based on information that is a perception, opinion, assessment or judgement, using, for instance, cardinal/ordinal scales. Indicator articulated in quantitative form and based on information on objects, facts or events that are, in principle, directly observable and verifiable. A Example 1: percentage of individuals who feel safe walking alone at night. Example 2: rating based on an average scoring by a group of experts/journalists on the state of freedom of expression in a given country. B Indicator articulated as a narrative, in a categorical form, and based on information on objects, facts or events that are, in principle, directly observable and verifiable. Indicator articulated as a narrative, not necessarily in a categorical form, and based on information that is a perception, opinion, assessment or judgement. Example 1: the status of ratification of a human rights treaty for a given country: ratified / signed / neither signed nor ratified. Example 2: factual description of an event involving acts of physical violence, a perpetrator and a victim. C Example 1: assessment expressed in narrative form of how independent and fair the judiciary is. Example 2: is the right to food fully guaranteed in law and in practice in a given country? D Example 1: prevalence of underweight children under five years of age. Example 2: number of recorded arbitrary executions. 18 Human Rights Indicators