ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Carl V. Patton and David S. Sawicki   Chapter 1. The Need for Simple Methods of Policy Analysis and Plannng. Our increasingly complex society confronts us with more and more difficult pol­icy problems that are not easily solved. Although these problems may be “at­tacked” or “addressed,” often they have no dearly correct answers. Some au­thors characterize the problems of modern society as “squishy,” “fuzzy,” and “wicked” and as often having the following attributes: 1. They are not well defined. 2. Their solutions cannot usually be proven to be correct before application. 3. No problem solution is ever guaranteed to achieve the intended result. 4. Problem solutions are seldom both best and cheapest. 5. The adequacy of the solution is often difficult to measure against notions of the public good. 6. The fairness of solutions is impossible to measure objectively. There are many examples of complex problems. What is the best location in a state for ...