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NCEDR's approach to research is two-fold. A theoretical, top-down, synthesis and distillation approach examines and distills existing knowledge and creates new understanding in order to improve environmental decision making. An empirical, bottom-up, case-studies approach evaluates experience in environmental decision making and develops insights on how to learn from that experience.
SYNTHESIS AND DISTILLATION
This approach analyses existing research on environmental decision making to draw out, codify, and assemble findings in an accessible form, and then communicate them to decision makers proactively and in response to specific requests for information. The purpose of this approach is to define for decision makers what is known about techniques, methods, tools, and processes as they could be used or adapted to particular applications, and then to make that information usable and accessible.
Environmental decision makers want to know what type of decision process to follow given the environmental problem at hand. They also want to know what methods and techniques to apply at each step of the process (e.g., when to use focus groups, risk analysis, decision tracking, or other tools). Much needs to be done to synthesize and distill decades of decision-making research from numerous academic disciplines into a coherent theoretical structure, framework, or decision path to guide decision-making processes. NCEDR assembles interdisciplinary teams to work on the synthesis, distillation, and decision framework research tasks. The teams include people who have applied research experience in environmental issues and disciplinary backgrounds in such fields as political science, decision analysis, sociology/anthropology, economics, environmental engineering, environmental science, transportation, ethics, and psychology.
CASE STUDIES APPROACH
NCEDR's case studies examine the challenges faced by state, local and other sub-national decision makers in developing credible, fair, efficient, and publicly-acceptable environmental policies. Objectives of the case studies approach are to increase the understanding of how environmental decisions are made, to generate insights likely to improve decisions, and to illuminate the processes, behaviors, decision-making methods, and decision-aiding tools that are most likely to satisfy the needs of the decision maker. As one observer states, "[O]nly when we confront specific facts, the raw material on the basis of which decisions are reached-not general theories or hypotheses-do the limits of public policy become apparent."
The goals of this approach are to learn from specific decisions and from the processes used to reach them. Rather than extensive and exhaustive examinations of historical details and technical issues, the case studies are targeted on activities, perceptions, strategies, interactions, communications, data usage, and adaptations of decision makers as they went through a particular decision process. Together they offer a rich array of situations, scales, and players that facilitate testing of a large number of hypotheses.
NCEDR employs an observation-based approach that combines the talents of researchers with the talents of decision makers. We elicit decision-maker perceptions about the characteristics of, and motivations for, decisions by performing a series of interactive research tasks (e.g., workshops, working groups, interviews). These tasks permit decision makers to respond to questions posed by NCEDR researchers about various attributes of decisions. Answers to these questions are then supplemented by written documentation (e.g., reviews of Records of Decision and other literature). This approach to case studies is termed "grounded theory,". It discerns generalizable patterns that occur within real-world settings, thus producing more accurate insights than theory-building or deduction alone. Our use of "grounded theory" also helps us to identify additional cases, at different geographic or temporal scales, to confirm or refute initial findings. It also allows us to rethink our initial assumptions by providing feedback on real world conditions. Finally, by providing practical lessons, this approach helps identify needs for decision-making tools and information resources, provides a foundation for building and testing theories, and constitutes a form of outreach to decision makers, citizens, and students.
NCEDR uses both intensive, detailed studies of a few cases and extensive study of fewer attributes of many cases to develop and validate insights from multiple perspectives.
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