Argumatics: a text analysis procedure for supporting problem formulation

✍ Scribed by Anna Vári

• Book ID: 104637666
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 862 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-5177
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00138752

✦ Synopsis

Problem formulation is the most critical phase of the decision making process. This. particularly in the case of high level multi-stakeholder problems, is not trivial, as the problems do not come "neatly packaged". The procedure presented in this paper aims to support (i) the exploration of the stakeholders' mental constructs, and (ii) the generation, comparison and synthesis of alternative problem formulations. The suggested procedure -while using the decision analytic approach of the traditional text analysis procedures, follows an inverse, bottom-up direction of analysis: first the individual arguments inherent in the text are explored, then taking them as a starting point, the structures behind the arguments are identified. The procedure is demonstrated by the analysis of an interview related to an environmental conflict in Hungary.