Below are two sets of considerations which is it important to be apprised of. Measuring any phenomenon implicitly creates norms about how much is too little, too much, or just right. Numbers can be ambiguous, and so leave room for political struggles to control their interpretation. Numbers can create the illusion that a very complex and ambiguous phenomenon is simple, countable, and precisely defined.
Numbers can create political communities out of people who share some trait that has been counted.
Counting can aid negotiation and compromise, by making intangible qualities seem divisible. The process of counting something makes people notice it more, and record keeping stimulates reporting. Counting can be used to stimulate public demands for change. The power to measure is the power to control. Measurers have a lot of discretion in their choice of what and how to measure.