Resources Repository
-
ReviewPublication 2016Remembering Howard Raiffa
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on …
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on the fields of systems analysis and operations research. He guided the introduction of the decision sciences into numerous fields such as business, medicine, public health, the environmental sciences, and law, and was instrumental in building world-recognized institutions such as the Kennedy School at Harvard and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria. This article is a thoughtful tribute by…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Operations Research | Decision Theory | Preferences/Values | Business/Industry | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | 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.
Economics/Finance | Culture/Society | Decision Analysis | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
BookPublication 2016Foundations of Decision Analysis
This book is described by the authors as emerging from what they have learned by …
This book is described by the authors as emerging from what they have learned by "teaching decision analysis to thousands of people in the United States and around the world in university classes and special professional educational programs". The early chapters and certain later chapters are written to be accessible to a general audience. Chapters 1 through 17 introduce the foundations of decision analysis without requiring significant mathematical sophistication. Chapter 26 discusses multi-attribute decision problems…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Operations Research | Decision Theory | Decision Psychology | Probability/Bayes | Business/Industry | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Global -
Lesson/ModulePublication, Teaching Resource 2014CDC Science Ambassador Workshop 2014 Lesson Plan: Master of Disaster
This lesson plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was curated to …
This lesson plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was curated to teach high school students, grades 9-10, to explore decision-making around natural disaster emergencies. The lesson includes a video, public health emergency response data, and a response plan. It explores interactive cases of cholera in Haiti after an earthquake and breaks down risk factors and different approaches to the scenario. Students make informed decisions based on this data, exploring public health…
Economics/Finance | Culture/Society | Decision Analysis | Injuries/Accidents | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America | Latin America & Caribbean | High School | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2007Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement …
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement in its development. He describes the early days of Operations Research (OR) in the late 1940s with its approach to complex, strategic decision making. After reading John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1947) and Abraham Wald’s two books (1947, 1950), he became involved in statistical decision theory. A few years later, after reading Leonard…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Operations Research | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Business/Industry | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine -
Resource PackWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2023Resource Pack: Cost-Effectiveness of Screening and Treatment for Hypertension
Hypertension is a relevant example for teaching clinical decision making, diagnostic test performance, positivity criterion, …
Hypertension is a relevant example for teaching clinical decision making, diagnostic test performance, positivity criterion, and cost-effectiveness analysis. This resource pack provides examples of decision analyses and cost-effectiveness analyses for the management and treatment of hypertension, with a predominant focus on the U.S. Analyses are included that predate the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Clinical Practice Guidelines, along with more recent examples that followed release of the guidelines. Resources are also included that…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Preferences/Values | Test Performance | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America | Europe | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Policy Translation | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2022Vaccinations versus Lockdowns to Prevent COVID-19 Mortality
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly …
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly available datasets from the Israeli Ministry of Health were used to model the parameters of the pandemic in Israel. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used for quantitative data on government policies. Data on the Israeli economy were taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The models demonstrate that the first lockdown prevented 1022 COVID-19 deaths at the cost…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Decision Theory | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2019Resource Pack: BCA in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, includes methods papers, case …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, includes methods papers, case studies, and reference case guidance for conducting benefit-cost analyses in low- and middle-income countries. These resources will aid advanced students and experienced practitioners in preparing these analyses. Investing in global health and development requires making difficult choices about what initiatives to fund and what level of resources to devote to each initiative. Although benefit-cost analysis is a well-established and widely-used…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Global | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2024Resource Pack: Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the theory and …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis. It is targeted towards advanced students as well as practitioners and those interested in teaching benefit-cost analysis. Benefit-cost analysis (also referred to as cost-benefit analysis) is a well-established and widely-used form of economic evaluation. It is designed to inform policy and other decisions by providing evidence on the consequences of alternative interventions. In benefit-cost analysis, all…
Economics/Finance | Decision Analysis | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis