Abstract

It exposes the results of a methodological reflection on the category of indicator of development in the context of public management coming from a research to recognize the tension among the conceptual and the operational dimension of the indicators. In a descriptive and analytical way, it is exposed how the category indicators takes sense in the institutional dynamics of the municipal management of the Region of Araucanía, Chile. The theoretical approaches to interpret data come from both, the anthropology of development and conceptualizations that the economy and the planning for development have proposed to the category of indicators. The methodological frame is ethnographic, in order to discuss about the category of qualitative indicators of development. The results demonstrate the prevalence of qualitative issues in the social life administered by municipalities. Conclusions relate to the methodological challenges of the management based on the comprehension of social local realities and on the participation of the subjects on it.