Squishy Problems and Quantitative Methods
ResearchPublished 1974
The edited text of a talk on potential hazards in the application of quantitative methods to "squishy" problems without well-defined structure, of the type frequently encountered in government policy and decisionmaking. Squishy problems are defined, and a three-level conceptual model of analysis which displays the relative roles of logical inference and qualitative human judgment is described. Two ways in which people use models of all types, as a surrogate for the substantive problem (e.g., Newtonian mechanics as a surrogate for "real" mechanics), and as a perspective on the problem (e.g., two-dimensional perspective drawing) are described and contrasted, and some of the implications of the difference for the analysis of squishy problems are discussed.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 1974
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 18
- Paperback Price: $20.00
- Document Number: P-5303
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Strauch, Ralph E., Squishy Problems and Quantitative Methods, RAND Corporation, P-5303, 1974. As of September 20, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5303.html
Strauch, Ralph E., Squishy Problems and Quantitative Methods. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1974. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5303.html. Also available in print form.
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