Resources Repository
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Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Educational Module: Shale Gas Development
This module has been developed around the topic of the extraction of natural gas from …
This module has been developed around the topic of the extraction of natural gas from shale. This practice, commonly referred to as fracking, involves several practices that have complex and uncertain consequences. In the module, three scientific concepts are explored in order to elucidate how science is applied toward addressing real-world problems. The scientific concepts are: (1) correlation is not the same as causation, (2) hazard is not the same as risk, and (3) risk…
Energy/Engineering | Climate/Environment | Probability/Bayes | Risk Analysis | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Government/Law | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership -
ReviewPublication 2016Strengthening Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Public Health Policy
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the …
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the conditions in which we live and work: safe design and maintenance of roads, bridges, train tracks, and airports; control of environmental pollutants; occupational safety; healthy buildings; a safe and healthy food supply; safe manufacture of consumer products; a healthy social environment; and others. Faced with the overwhelming array of possibilities, U.S. decision makers need help identifying those that can contribute the…
Climate/Environment | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | North America -
Working PaperPublication 2015Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Cities
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions …
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions undertaken at the city or municipal level. It introduces the concepts that underlie the conduct of benefit-cost analysis, describes the major analytic components, and discusses how to tailor the analysis to the characteristics of the policy and the resources available. It concludes with a list of references for those interested in learning more.
Climate/Environment | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Analysis | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
GuidelinesPublication 2014EPA Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for …
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for assessing the impacts of environmental regulations and policies that has been extensively peer-reviewed and is widely-applied both within and outside of the agency. The Guidelines discuss: (1) statutory and executive order requirements for conducting economic analyses; (2) identifying the need for policy action; (3) regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to pollution control; (4) baseline definition; (5) discounting future benefits and costs;…
Climate/Environment | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Analysis | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
BookPublication 2013Making Hard Decisions with Decision Tools, 3rd Edition
Making Hard Decisions with Decision Tools® is a new edition and teaches the fundamental ideas …
Making Hard Decisions with Decision Tools® is a new edition and teaches the fundamental ideas of decision analysis, without an overly technical explanation of the mathematics used in decision analysis. This new version has been purposefully written to be more relevant to students in business and engineering compared to previous versions. This new version also incorporates and implements the powerful DecisionTools® software by Palisade Corporation. At the end of each chapter, topics are illustrated with step-by-step instructions…
Energy/Engineering | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Test Performance | Value of Information | Microsimulation | Decision Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology | Global | North America | Europe -
ReviewPublication 2001Modeling for Health Care and Other Policy Decisions: Uses, Roles and Validity
This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making …
This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making in health care and other domains. The role of models to support recommendations on the cost-effective use of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals is controversial. At the heart of the controversy is the degree to which experimental or other empirical evidence should be required prior to model use. The authors argue that the controversy stems in part from a misconception that…
Energy/Engineering | Climate/Environment | Priority Setting/Ethics | Evidence Synthesis | Mathematical Models | Technology Assessment | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 1982Decision Analysis: An Overview
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can …
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can and cannot do, why one should care to do this, and how one does it. Keeney describes decision analysis as "a formalization of common sense for decision problems which are too complex for informal use of common sense." He provides a more technical definition also, describing decision analysis as "a philosophy, articulated by a set of logical axioms, and a methodology…
Energy/Engineering | Decision Theory | Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2020Valuing Statistical Lives: Concepts, Current Practices, and Challenges
Many policies aim to improve longevity, decreasing the risk of death in each year, and …
Many policies aim to improve longevity, decreasing the risk of death in each year, and the value of these risk reductions often dominate the estimated benefits of risk regulations and other policies. This value is often expressed as the value per statistical life (VSL), a term that is widely misunderstood. It is not the value that the analyst, the government, or the individual places on saving an identified life with certainty. Instead, it reflects individuals’…
Climate/Environment | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Global -
BookPublication 2018Pricing Lives: Guideposts for a Safer Society
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life …
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life (VSL) approach for valuing changes in mortality risks and argues that its more widespread use would create a safer and more equitable society. The author estimates these values based on how much more money workers would demand to take on more hazardous jobs; his current estimate is $10 million. The book addresses numerous topics such as whether older people’s lives…
Climate/Environment | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis