Analysis of Complex Systems: An Experiment and Its Implications for Policymaking.
ResearchPublished 1973
This paper is an integrative chapter for a larger collected work that concentrates on and details many of the special and undesirable aspects of large, hard-to-understand-and-manage systems. Discussed are relevant areas of inquiry from political science, psychology, organizational behavior, and communications. A small illustrative experiment was designed and operated to examine the effects of increasing a system's analytic size, the connectedness of its elements, and the degree of its temporal and spatial detail. Implications of the experiment are discussed in terms of system size, various research strategies, and some observable impacts on organizational behavior. The central question of operational control is then related to the ideas generated by the experiment and to the pragmatic and theoretical concerns that formed the basis of the investigation. 61 pp. Ref.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 1973
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 61
- Paperback Price: $23.00
- Document Number: P-4951
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Brewer, Garry D., Analysis of Complex Systems: An Experiment and Its Implications for Policymaking. RAND Corporation, P-4951, 1973. As of September 12, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4951.html
Brewer, Garry D., Analysis of Complex Systems: An Experiment and Its Implications for Policymaking. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1973. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4951.html. Also available in print form.
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