structured decision making

origins of sdm

based on principle of the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT)

incorporates understanding from behaviour decision theory, psychology, economics

step 1 in sdm

define the problem

what are some questions to ask to define the problem

who is involved

what concerns are included

what options are possible

what are decision makers’ goals

step 2 in sdm

identify objectives and measures

how to define an objective

state what is valued along with an adjective to describe desired direction of change adn an attribute to assess progress

why do we need objectives

transparent

consistent decision making

comparing alternatives

monitoring

communicating rationale for choices to those not involved

fundamental objectives

essential things that matter to decision makers

ultimate outcomes used to identify & compare alternatives'

include everything that matters

means objectives

helps achieve something else important- not important in and of itself

basis for measurement and alternatives in sdm

means

how could we do that

ends

why is that important

three common types of measures

natural, proxy, constructed

natural measures

direct measure

proxy measure

indirect measure of objective

constructed measure

developed specifically for an objective

step 3 in sdm

create alternatives set

how to create alternatives set

identify alternatives

establish consequences of each alternative

consequence table to summarize decision framework

strategy table

way of describing definition of alternatives in terms of specific selections made from various categories of actions

step 4 in sdm

assess consequence

consequence tables

summary illustrating performance of each alternative on each objective

step 5 in sdm

evaluate tradeoffs and select

how do we evaluate tradeoffs

people disagree on which values are most important

goal is to inform decision makers about areas of agreement/disagreement

step 6 in sdm

implement, monitor, learn

what can good monitoring provide

new factual info

new values info