Robert F. Rich - Social Science Information and Public Policy Making

ROBERT F. RICH

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR
FOREWORD BY KENNETH PREWITT

Originally published in 1981 by Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.

Published 2001 by Transaction Publishers

Published 2017 by Routledge

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New material this edition copyright 2001 by Taylor & Francis.

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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 00-051202

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rich, Robert F.

Social science information and public policy making / Robert F. Rich; with a new introduction by the author,

p.cm.

Originally published: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1981.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN: 0-7658-0758-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Social sciencesResearchUnited States. 2. United StatesSocial policy. 3. Social surveysUnited States. 4. BureaucracyUnited States. 5. Policy sciences. I. Title.

H62.5.U5 R52 2000

300'.723dc21

00-051202

ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0758-8 (pbk)

Since this book was first published in 1981, scholars from many different disciplines have been involved with researchtheoretical and empiricalon some aspect of knowledge production, acquisition, dissemination, utilization, and application to organizational and individual problem-solving processes. Affected disciplines include business administration, communications, economics, management information systems, marketing, medicine, organizational studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, public health, and sociology. It is also generally believed that knowledge and information drive the economy of the globe. The development of the World Wide Web and information technology has provided a basis for a truly global information infrastructure (Birnbaum 1999).

One research issues which has received considerable attention is information overload (including strategies for dealing with overload problems, access to information, the processing of information) by individuals and organizations, including questions of processing errors, biases, and information symmetries and asymmetries. Other important research issues include the management of information, the impacts of information technology (including e-mail and the world wide web), the integral role of information in rational decision-making processes, the role of information in organizational learning and developing organizational intelligence capacity, the political role of information in the public policy-making process (including the increasing importance which has been attached to public opinion data), the information or knowledge economy, and the use and abuse of information.by individuals and organizations. The role of information in decision-makingindividual and organizationalhas been given increased attention in social science literature. Yet, decision-making occurs in an organizational or institutional context, a fact which is central to our understanding of what the role of information actually is.

As valuable as information is, information by itself is meaningless. Information only takes on meaning in the context of the social practices of the communities that give it life... Why is it, then, that we always think of learning in individualistic terms of acquisition of information... (Wenger 1991).

Looking at this body of literature which consists of empirical research, testimonials, and think-pieces, one quickly arrives at the conclusion that most past studies lack a comprehensive conceptual framework which addresses critical issues associated with various stages of what might be called the knowledge cycle (Rich 1981b). Researchers have tended to focus on one aspect or stage of knowledge processing in decision-making with little consideration of the interrelated stages. While each stage of knowledge processing can be studied as a distinctive agenda for research, it is important to analyze how the stages are interrelated and what the critical issues are for each component of the cycle. There are several distinct stages in the process of obtaining and using information for decision-making; these may be referred to as the cycle of information processing (see ).

We use the term cycle to suggest that information use is not a discrete event in isolation; instead, it is one stage in an interrelated set of stages or phases (Rich 1981b; van Lohuizen 1986; Wingens 1990). The information search phase (or the information acquisition stage) is understood as a task in which a decision-maker seeks information about problems or policy issues on his or her agenda. Message and channel implicitly represent the dissemination phase of information processing in organizational decision-making. Message means characteristics associated with information (e.g., types or content of information), and channel implies the way in which information can be flowed to decision-makers: formally (organizational structure) or informally (interpersonal communications). Once information is received and processed, it may or may not be used completely or incompletely by decision-makers. Use is implicitly a choice or decision about whether or not to apply information in a decision-makers work. Since the logic of each stage may be different, one cannot assume that one stage leads automatically to the next. This is not necessarily a linear process. The fact that information is acquired does not necessarily mean that information will be disseminated and/or used. Similarly, the fact that information is used does not necessarily mean that it will have an impact on an ultimate decision.