Hope

To assess the level of hope or positivity within the population as a way of assessing the possible trend. Do people feel that the situation is getting better or worse?

Collected as part of a survey.  Possible questions could ask the extent to which respondents agree or disagree with the statement: 'I feel that my future will be better than my life is now' 

For analysis a simpe percentage should be taken of the number of respondents reporting that they agree or straongly agree with the statement.  Care should be taken in deciding whether this percentage applies to just those surveyed or whther it can be ascribed to the population as a whole.  This will depend on the design of the survey and whether it was a representative sample of the population.

Gender, age group and faith as standard.  Depending on context and design the data could also be disaggregated by other relevent social identity markers.