Systems analysis in public policy : a critique / Ida R. Hoos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoos, Ida R. (Ida Russakoff), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Executive departments--United States--Management.

Executive departments.

System analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (359 pages)

Edition:

Revised edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 1983.

Summary:

Systems analysis, which is also called cost/benefit analysis, the planning-programming-budgeting system, risk analysis, and technology assessment, has become the major planning and policy tool of government at all levels. Indeed, it is still gathering momentum in addressing the uncertainties associated with everything from the safety of nuclear energy to the effects of microelectronics. Examining this phenomenon critically, Ida R. Hoos reviews systems analytic techniques in their own circumscribed, simulated world and in the real one, drawing on a wide range of studies in health, education, welfare, crime, and many other areas of public concern, and giving special attention to information systems and databanks. In a new introduction and a new final chapter, Hoos expands her 1972 discussion to consider the ways in which systems analysis, now dominant, governs our present and determines our future. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Past as Prologue

Reason for the Rctrospecti ve

Systems Analysis as Dominant Paradigm

Economics arnl Cost/Benefit Analysis

Optimization and the Decline of the Business World

The Case of the Costly Mini-Dollar

The Cost of Cost/Benefit Analysis

I. Survey and Perspective

Focus of Research

2. Systems Approach in Theoretical Perspective

Definitions of "System

Systems Analysis, Systems Engineering, and Systems Management

General System Theory

In Sociology

In Psychology

ln Economics

General System Theory as Synergy

3. Systems Approach in Practical Perspective

Tactical Development of the Techniques

The Pentagon as Paragon

The Techniques at Work in the Civilian Sector

Social Indicators

National Goals

4. Systems Analysis as Technological Transfer

The "Man on the Moon" Magic

The Doleful Dialectic

Language as Expediter

Economic and Political Factors in the Transfer

Validity of Reasons and Assumptions Underlying the Transfer

The Process of Technological Transfer

5. The Techniques at Work in Waste Management and Supersonic Transport

Methodology, Methods, and Models

Objectives Defined and Redefined

Cost-Benefit Analysis for War and Peace

Waste Management

Supersonic Transport

6. The Techniques at Work in Education and Health

The Systems Approach to Education

Education Planning and Manpower Needs

The Goals of Education

Program Performance in Education

Students' Grades as Indices

Technological Devices and Education

Implications of PPBS in Education

Costs, Benefits, and Performance of Health Programs

Doctors and Data Systems

Analysis of Costs and Benefits of Health Care

Health Service Efficiency in Britain.

Effectiveness of Disease Control Programs in the U.S

Health Programs for the Poor

7. Management Information Systems

Management of Information

Information Systems as Part of the Rational Planning Process

The Matter of Facts

Information Systems and Public Welfare

Information Systems and Land Use

Information Systems and Crime

Information Systems and the Invasion of Privacy

8. Futurology and the Future of Systems Analysis

Forecasting the Future through Systems Techniques

The State-of-the-Art of Futurology

Systems Analysis in Social Perspective

9. Imprint and Implications of Systems Methodology

Introduction

Cost/Effectiveness in Education

Technology as "Open Sesame" to Efficiency in Education

Technology as Model-Maker

Star Wars and Space Wars: Game and Reality

State of the Nation's Health

Cost/ Effectiveness in the Delivery of Health Care

Information Technology and Health

Public Health Policy Administration and Analysis

Risk and Benefit in Public Health Policy

Risk Analysis

Assessment of Nuclear Risks

Safe Radiation Standards

The Safety Image

Methodology of Risk Analysis

Technology Assessment

Assessment of Information Technology

Worklife-Employment, Unemployment, and Emplovabilily

Private Life-Information Technology as Intruder

Quality of Life

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-520-37865-2

OCLC:

1443082158