Project for Decision Making

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Project for Decision Making
Based on Carolyn Rudes Reports for Decision
Making Genre and Inquiry. JBTC 9-2 (1995)
170-205.
Dmitri Stanchevici, English 2311
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Practical Problems

• Occur everywhere from private life through local
  businesses to national policy-making groups
• Require choice about action
• Are too complex for hunches
• Require inquiries aimed at a decision about
  action
• Are situated in particular places and times

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Practical problems examples

• Should a particular bank open a branch bank in
  the southwest part of a particular city?
• Will a Macintosh or IBM computer work better for
  the businesses of the Jones farm in Montana?
• Why rates of teenage pregnancy are especially
  high in one rural area?

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Practical problems and decisions are localized

• The circumstances of a problem differ from one
  context to another.
• A quality decision for a practical problem takes
  all these circumstances in consideration.
• A good decision is only good for the situation
  where the practical problem occurs.

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Good local decision Macintosh vs. IBM
Macintosh vs. IBM for the Jones farm
Macintoshes are better (or worse) than IBMs for
all farm businesses
A Macintosh (or an IBM) computer is better
specifically for the Jones farm in Montana
Macintoshes are in general better (worse) than
IBMs
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Good local decision Macintosh vs. IBM
Macintosh vs. IBM for the Jones farm
Macintoshes are better (or worse) than IBMs for
all farm businesses
A Macintosh (or an IBM) computer is better
specifically for the Jones farm in Montana
Macintoshes are in general better (worse) than
IBMs
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Decision making requires information
What drives decision making is the need for
information that will help a decision maker to
determine the best course of action in a complex
situation. The recommended course of action
should solve the problem that requires a decision
without creating worse problems (Rude 194).
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Methods of inquiry are localized
The researcher may (and should) find useful
information about similar problems in published
sources

• The researcher MUST also find information about
  the particular situation through
• Interviews
• Surveys
• Site inspections
• Tests

BUT
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Criteria for a good decision

• Criteria are those factors that predict
  whether a decision will yield desirable
  consequences. They are the reasons for making a
  decision (Rude 195).
• Criteria help the decision maker determine what
  is possible, true, and important in a particular
  context

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How to identify criteria

• First, analyze the problem to identify what
  factors (criteria) will determine a good decision
• In addition, use intuition, brainstorming,
  conversation, and printed sources

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Identify criteria for this situation
My brother, a university professor, has a family
of a wife and two sons who are ten and eight
years old. Their only car is on its last legs.
They decided to buy a new car. Think about
criteria that the family may use in their
decision about what car to buy.
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Identify criteria for this situation (cont-ed)
A department at Texas Tech University has a large
collection of books. The room housing the
collection is too small to function as a library
for the department's faculty and students.
Obviously, a new room should be allocated for the
department's library. A faculty member suggests
that a large room on the fourth floor that is
currently functioning as a gym can be turned into
a library. Think about criteria against which the
feasibility of this project can be measured.
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Criteria may change during research
In my project about converting a paper procedure
to an on-line one,

• I first, looked at
• Instructors attitudes
• Financial feasibility
• Technical feasibility

I found that I should also look at what the
College of Arts and Sciences wants
However, during research
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Criteria are the backbone of decision making

• Start with tentative criteria before the
  research begins
• Depending on your findings add, drop, and order
  (according to the level of importance) the
  criteria for a good solution

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Kinds of criteria

• Technical
• Technology (availability of)
• Materials (availability of)
• Legal Restrictions
• Ease of Use

• Managerial
• Costs
• Training
• Time required
• Policies, etc.

• Social
• Human Safety
• Gender, race, age
• Values
• Convenience
• Aesthetics, etc.

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