Designing an Analytic Deliberative Process for Environmental Health Policy Making in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex

Using a National Research Council Report as a centerpiece, Drs. Tuler and Webler evaluate the effectiveness of a conceptual approach to risk policy-making

Managing Executive Transitions

A handbook for nonprofits going through or anticipating executive transitions

Report and Recommendations on Two Chilean Labor Force Surveys

For many years, Chile has benefited from two surveys of labor force developments for the “Greater Santiago Area.” One of these surveys dates back to the 1950s and is conducted by the University of Chile. The other is a national survey, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), from which data are also available for the Santiago Metropolitan Area. Results, especially the rate of unemployment, do not always coincide, and this has been particularly the case for all years since 1998. This report studies this problem of non concurrence, identifies a number of areas for possible explanation, and makes recommendations for improvement of survey operations. Both surveys were found to follow quite well recommendations of the International Labor Organization regarding the measurement of employment and unemployment. Two significant areas in the report concern the questionnaires used for the surveys and data estimation techniques. Fourteen recommendations for improvements in the surveys are offered, with major attention focused on plans by the NIS to introduce an entirely new questionnaire in the near future. With respect to the University’s survey, the authors recommend changes in the basic questionnaire and survey weighting procedures. They also recommend improving data analysis (NIS), maintaining error profiles for data collection (both surveys), and using seasonal adjustment for statistical analysis (both).

FIREX mission requirements document for renewable resources

The initial experimental program and mission requirements for a satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system FIREX (Free-Flying Imaging Radar Experiment) for renewable resources is described. The spacecraft SAR is a C-band and L-band VV polarized system operating at two angles of incidence which is designated as a research instrument for crop identification, crop canopy condition assessments, soil moisture condition estimation, forestry type and condition assessments, snow water equivalent and snow wetness assessments, wetland and coastal land type identification and mapping, flood extent mapping, and assessment of drainage characteristics of watersheds for water resources applications. Specific mission design issues such as the preferred incidence angles for vegetation canopy measurements and the utility of a dual frequency (L and C-band) or dual polarization system as compared to the baseline system are addressed