Correspondence on “SOSIPing, or Sophistical Obfuscation of Self-Interest and Prejudice”

Abstract

I found this paper by George J. A. Stern (in Opl Res. Q. 27. No. 4 (ii) 1976) very interesting. In particular, I felt quite sympathetic towards his criticism of univariate analysis approaches to public policy questions (whereby an attempt is made to reduce all factors to values on one scale). Indeed, the point that it is this very reduction to a single variable that leads to difficulties is often obscured by the fact that money (the love of which is traditionally the root of all evil) is usually the chosen variable. However, my overriding reaction was that it has all been said before, and I wondered whether Mr. Stern (and indeed many other workers) might not be aware of the seminal work in this field by my former colleague, John K. Friend, and the late Neil Jessop, at the Institute for Operational Research in Local Government and Strategic Choice.' Part III of the book discusses this very problem at length in connection with setting priorities within a local Authority (see, e.g. Tables 17-19). There have, of course, been considerable developments in both philosophy and technique since then, and the interested reader is invited to contact John Friend at the Institute for Operational Research2 for details. In conclusion, my point in writing is not to criticize George Stern for his admirable philosophical stance, but rather to broaden the debate on this whole topic by drawing wider attention to what I believe to be some important work in this field.