Combining Information
A Key Quantitative Skill for Policy-Makers
Published in: Statistics, Science and Public Policy V: Society, Science and Education / Edited by Herzberg AM, Krupka I., (Ontario, Canada: Queen's University, 2001), Chapter 8, p. 71-76
Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2001
In this paper, I shall use a 1998 controversy to illustrate a common challenge for policy-makers: assembling and assessing disparate data, combining information to make decisions, and allocating finite resources based on the input of scientists and statisticians while the media watch. This paper emphasizes that education must be lifelong and respond with flexibility as new methodology develops. But one should not focus solely on tertiary education, but rather, think beyond university education.
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