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Information-gathering and analysis tools have been organized here into eight categories of tool use. While these categories do not describe the decision process itself, they identify important inputs to environmental decision-making. Although displayed sequentially as components of a flow diagram, each of these categories can be undertaken in different ways, at different points in time, and by different participants in a decision-making process. In addition, three other steps--identifying the problem, identifying options, and making the decision--are critical to the decision process, but they don't necessarily entail information gathering and analysis tools.
The purpose of using these eight categories of decision-aiding tools is to help you arrive at an effective and balanced decision by collecting and analyzing information systematically. Information gathered using tools within one category can be integrated with information obtained at other points in the process. In this way, tentative decisions can be modified early on, as more information is acquired.
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