Priority-setting methods for policy boards must address both multiple criteria for choosing among alternative policies and the differing values of individual board members. Four techniques that might be appropriate for policy boards are decision analysis, simplified multiattribute rating technique, analytic hierarchy process, and social judgment theory. These techniques differ in approach, implementation, complexity, cognitive style, time required, and information demands. Factors to consider before using one of these techniques include what roles board members and staff should play, how individuals' opinions should be aggregated, and whether the political conditions exist that make it feasible to use the technique.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ADELMAN, L. , T. R. STEWART, and K. R. HAMMOND (1975) "A case history of the application of social judgment theory to policy formation."Policy Sciences6: 137-159.
2.
BARRON. F. H. and R. JOHN (1980) "Reference effects: a sheep in wolf's clothing."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance25: 365-374.
3.
BELL, D. E. , R. L. KEENEY, and H. RAIFFA [eds.] (1977) Conflicting Objectives in Decisions. New York: John Wiley.
4.
BILLINGS, R. S. and S. A. MARCUS (1983) "Measures of compensatory and noncompensatory models of decision behavior: process tracing versus policy capturing."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance31: 331-352.
5.
BODILY, S. (1978) "Merging the preferences of interest groups of efficiency and equity of service in the design of police sectors," pp. 103-122 in R. C. Larson (ed.) Police Deployment: New Tools for Planners. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
6.
BUNN, D. W. (1984) Applied Decision Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.
7.
DYER, J. S. and R. F. MILES, Jr. (1977) "Alternative formulations for a trajectory selection problem: the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 Project," pp. 367-388 in D. E. Bellet al. (eds.) Conflicting Objectives in Decisions. New York: John Wiley.
8.
EDWARDS, W. (1980) "Multiattribute utility for evaluation: structures, uses, and problems," pp. 177-215 in M. W. Klein and K. S. Teilman (eds.) Handbook of Criminal Justice Evaluation. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
9.
EDWARDS, W. (1979) "Multiattribute utility measurement: evaluating desegregation plans in a highly political context," pp. 13-54 in R. Perloff (ed.) Evaluator Interventions: Pros and Cons. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
10.
EDWARDS, W. (1977) "Use of multiattribute utility measurement for social decision making, pp. 247-276 in D. E. Bellet al. (eds.) Conflict Objectives in Decisions. New York: John Wiley.
11.
EILS, L. C. and R. S. JOHN (1980) "A criterion validation of multiattribute utility analysis and of group communications strategy."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance25: 268-288.
12.
EINHORN, H. J. and R. M. HOGARTH (1981) "Behavioral decision theory: processes of judgment and choice."Annual Rev. of Psychology32: 53-88.
13.
EINHORN, H. J. and W. McCOACH (1977) "A simple multiattribute utility procedure for evaluation."Behavioral Science22: 270-282.
14.
GRIZZLE, G. A. (1982) "Decision strategies for plural policymaking bodies."Administration & Society14: 81-99.
15.
HAMMOND, K. R. (1976) "Externalizing the parameters of quasirational thought," pp. 75-95 in M. Zeleny (ed.) Multiple Criteria Decision Making, Kyoto 1975. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
16.
HAMMOND, K. R. , J. ROHBRAUGH, J. MUMPOWER, and L. ADELMAN (1977) "Social judgment theory: applications in policy formation," pp. 1-29 in M. F. Kaplan and S. Schwartz (eds.) Human Judgment and Decision Processes: Applications in Problem Settings. New York: Academic Press.
17.
HERSHEY, J. C. , H. C. KUNREUTHER, and P.J.H. SCHOEMAKER (1982) "Sources of bias in assessment procedures for utility functions."Management Sci.28(8): 936-954.
18.
HOBBS, B. F. (1980) "A comparison of weighting methods in power plant siting."Decision Sciences11(4): 725-737.
19.
HWANG, C. L. and K. YOON (1981) Multiple Attribute Decision Making Methods and Applications: A State-of—the Art Survey. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
20.
KARAKO, J. and H. WOLF (1982) "Evaluating a street department's performance."Public Productivity Rev.6(1-2): 122-127.
21.
KEENEY, R. L. (1980) "Evaluating alternatives involving potential fatalities."Operations Research28: 188-205.
22.
KEENEY, R. L. (1979) "Evaluation of proposed storage sites."Operations Research27: 48-64.
23.
KEENEY, R. L. and K. NAIR (1977) "Selecting nuclear power plant sites in the Pacific Northwest using decision analysis," pp. 298-322 in D. E. Bellet al. (eds.) Conflicting Objectives in Decisions. New York: John Wiley.
24.
KEENEY, R. L. and H. RAIFFA (1976) Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs. New York: John Wiley.
25.
KRZYSZTOFOWICZ, R. and L. DUCKSTEIN (1980) "Assessment errors in multiattribute utility functions."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance26(3): 326-348.
26.
LANE, D. M. , K. R. MURPHY, and T. E. MARQUES (1982) "Measuring the importance of cues in policy capturing."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance30(2): 231-240.
27.
METCALF, H. G. and L. URWICK [eds.] (1940) Dynamic Administration: The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett. New York: Harper & Row.
28.
PITZ, G. F. , J. HEERBOTH, and N. J. SACKS (1980) "Assessing the utility of multiattribute utility assessments."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance26(1): 65-80.
29.
ROHRBAUGH, J. and R. QUINN (1980) "Evaluating the performance of public organizations: a method for developing a single index."J. of Health and Human Resources2(3): 343-354.
30.
ROHRBAUGH, J. and P. WEHR (1978) "Judgment analysis in policy formation: a new method for improving public participation."Public Opinion Q.42: 521-532.
31.
ROOSE, J. E. and M. E. DOHERTY (1978) "Social judgment theoretic approach to sex discrimination in faculty salaries."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance22: 193-215.
32.
SAATY, T. L. (1980) The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource Allocation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
33.
SAATY, T. L. and J. P. BENNET (1977) "A theory of analytical hierarchies applied to political candidacy."Behavioral Sci.22(4): 237-245.
34.
SCHOEMAKER, P.J.H. and C. C. WAID (1982) "An experimental comparison of different approaches to determining weights in additive utility models. Management Science28(2): 182-196.
35.
SLOVIC, P. , B. FISCHOFF, and S. LICHTENSTEIN (1977) "Behavioral decision theory."Annual Rev. of Psychology28: 1-39.
36.
STEWART, T. R. and L. GELBERD (1976) "Analysis of judgment policy: a new approach for citizen planning."Amer. Institute of Planners J.42: 33-41.
37.
STILLWELL, W. G. , D. A. SEAVER, and W. EDWARDS (1981) "A comparison of weight approximation techniques in multiattribute utility decision making."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance28(1): 62-77.
38.
WAINER, H. (1976) "Estimating coefficients in linear models: it don't make nevermind."Psych. Bull.83(2): 213-217.
39.
YATES, J. F. and C. M. JAGACINSKI (1980) "Multiattribute evaluation reference effects: a reply to Barron and John."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance25: 375-383.
40.
YATES, J. F. and C. M. JAGACINSKI (1979) "Reference effects in multiattribute evaluating."Organizational Behavior and Human Performance24: 400-410.
