The State of Minority- and Women- Owned ... - Cleveland.com

Appendix A. Glossary
Demand-side: Refers to activity on the demand-side of an economic market. For example, when
State agencies hire contractors or vendors they are creating market demand. See also “Supplyside.”
Dependent variable: In a regression analysis, a variable whose value is postulated to be
influenced by one or more other “independent” or “exogenous” or “explanatory” variables. For
example, in business owner earnings regressions, business owner earnings is the dependent
variable, and other variables, such as industry, geographic location, or age, are the explanatory
variables. See also “Independent variable,” “Exogenous variable.”
Disaggregation, disaggregated: Refers to the practice of splitting larger groups into smaller
groups. In the present context, this term is typically used in reference to the presentation of
utilization, availability, or related statistics according to industry. For example, statistics
presented for “Building Construction,” “Heavy Construction,” and Special Trades Construction”
industries are more disaggregated than statistics for the “Construction” sector as a whole.
Disparate impact: A synonym for “disparity,” often used in the employment discrimination
litigation context. A disparate impact occurs when a “good” outcome for a given group occurs
significantly less often than expected given that group’s relative size, or when a “bad” outcome
occurs significantly more often than expected.
Disparity ratio (or Disparity Index): A measure derived from dividing utilization by
availability and multiplying the result by 100. A disparity ratio of less than 100 indicates that
utilization is less than availability. A disparity ratio of 80 or less can be taken as evidence of
disparate impact. See also Availability, Constitutional significance, Utilization.
Distribution. A set of numbers and their frequency of occurrence collected from measurements
over a statistical population.
Econometrics, econometrically: Econometrics is the field of economics that concerns itself
with the application of statistical inference to the empirical measurement of relationships
postulated by economic theory. See also “Regression.”
Endogenous variable: A variable that is correlated with the residual in a regression analysis or
equation. Endogenous variables should not be used in statistical tests for the presence of
disparities. See also “Exogenous variable.”
Exogenous variable: A variable that is uncorrelated with the residual in a regression analysis or
equation. Exogenous variables are appropriate for use in statistical tests for the presence of
disparities. See also “Endogenous variable,” “Independent variable,” “Dependent variable.”
FFY: Fiscal Year. The City of Cleveland’s Fiscal Year runs from January 1 through December
31.
First-tier subcontractors: Subcontractors, subconsultants, or suppliers hired directly by the
prime contractor.
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