Indicator

From EvaluationWiki

Typically, in evaluation, a property or quantity that is a useful guide to the presence or amount of something else, the something else usually being a key property that is often a criterion of whatever we are primarily interested in. For example, the blood alcohol level is an indicator of the degree of intoxication of the individual tested. However, the connection is merely correlational, not definitional, and hence has limitations as a measure. In the example, a test of coordination is a more direct measure of the property in which we are interested, the criterion itself, since individuals vary considerably in the extent to which their reflexes are affected by a certain blood alcohol level. But of course poor reactions on a coordination test may be due to a nervous disorder, or extreme anxiety about being tested in front of their passengers, so they are-strictly speaking-just better indicators, not the criterion itself (which in this case is poor reflexes due to drinking). In evaluation, a major problem with the use of indicators is their abuse, once it becomes known that they are to be used as surrogates for something important. See Criterion, KPI.