Traditional policy analysis approaches are characterized by a focus on system modeling and choosing among policy alternatives. While successful in many cases, this approach has been increasingly criticized for being technocratic and ignoring the behavioral and political dimensions of most policy processes. In recent decades, increased awareness of the multi-actor, multiple perspective, and poly-centric character of many policy processes has led to the development of a variety of different ...

This open access book focuses on both the theory and practice associated with the tools and approaches for decisionmaking in the face of deep uncertainty. It explores approaches and tools supporting the design of strategic plans under deep uncertainty, and their testing in the real world, including barriers and enablers for their use in practice. The book broadens traditional approaches and tools to include the analysis of actors and networks related to the problem at hand. It also shows h...

How do we know which social and economic policies work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Jim Manzi argues that throughout history, various methods have been attempted -- except for controlled experimentation. Experiments provide the feedback loop that allows us, in certain limited ways, to identify error in our beliefs as a first step to correcting them. Over the course of the first half of the twentieth century, scientists invented a methodology for executing contro...

"This is a must-read for every student, lecturer and professor. It establishes Internet Studies as essential to an understanding of how learners and educators can capture the value of our networked world."Professor William H. Dutton, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, University of OxfordIn E-learning Theory and Practice the authors set out different perspectives on e-learning. The book deals with the social implications of e-learning, its transformative effects, an...

Organizational Cognition is a collection of chapters written by scholars from around the world. The editors outline the history of two approaches to the study of cognition in organizations, the computational approach and the interpretive approach. The chapters represent some of the most cutting-edge research on organizational cognition, covering research that spans many levels of analysis. Much of the work in the book demonstrates how computational and interpretive approaches can ...

"Practical, accessible, careful and interesting, this...revised volume brings the subject up-to-date and explains, in bite sized chunks, the ′how′s′ and ′why′s′ of modern day geographical study...[It] brings together physical and human approaches again in a new synthesis." —Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography, University of OxfordKey Methods in Geography is the perfect introductory companion, providing an overview of qualitative and quan...

Defining a research question, describing why it needs to be answered and explaining how methods are selected and applied are challenging tasks for anyone embarking on academic research within the field of landscape architecture. Whether you are an early career researcher or a senior academic, it is essential to draw meaningful conclusions and robust answers to research questions.Research in Landscape Architecture provides guidance on the rationales needed for selecting met...

to do to ensure survival, and (2) principles for designing organizational structures in such a way that they can realize the required functions adequately. In the course of their elaboration, we will show that these principles are general – i. e. , that they hold for all organizations. 1. 5 Conceptual Background To describe organizations as social systems conducting experiments and to present principles for designing an infrastructure supporting the “social experiment,” we use concepts fro...

"The definitive guide to a technology that succeeds or fails depending upon our ability to accommodate societal context and structures. This handbook is lucid, integrative, comprehensive and, above all, prescient in its interpretation of GIS implementation as a societal process."- Paul Longley, University College London**"This is truly a handbook - a book you will want to keep on hand for frequent reference and to which GIS professors should direct ...

Is talent the only key to scientific success? In fact, the answer is: `No'. Management and organisation do make a real, significant difference between success and failure in science. This book presents a clear survey of the critical success factors in biomedical research laboratories. Based on an international, comparative study of 71 research laboratories in medical faculties, large health research institutes and innovative pharmaceutical companies, ready-to-use guidelines are offered to ...

"We all know that the actual process of empirical research is a messy, complicated business that at best only approximates the models we impart to students. Research Confidential pulls back the curtain on this process, laying bare the sordid details of the research process, but doing so in a way that respects the ideals of social research and that provides useful lessons for young scholars. It should be required reading for our research methods courses."---Michael X. Delli ...

This book explores models and concepts of trust in a digitized world. Trust is a core concept that comes into play in multiple social and economic relations of our modern life. The book provides insights into the current state of research while presenting the viewpoints of a variety of disciplines such as communication studies, information systems, educational and organizational psychology, sports psychology and economics. Focusing on an investigation of how the Internet is changing the re...