Oops! Something went wrong... the project analysts followed this standard paradigm in three steps, given as:
Think of this as PLAN A.1. There is a scientific or policy question of some theoretical or practical importance.2. Researchers gather data on relevant outcomes and perform a statistical analysis, ideally leading to a clear conclusion ..3. This conclusion informs policy.
But Andrew Gelman asks: "What happens if Step 2 fails?"
Well, we could take Jurgen Appelo's advice: "Measure everything; Conclude nothing". Off hand, I don't see how that moves the ball very well, or very far, but hey!.. Appelo has his reasoning.
Nonetheless, Step 2 does fail -- in fact, in the project domain Step 2 fails fairly often -- and then what's a PMO to do? Yogi Berra's advice comes to mind:"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"
Enter PLAN B:
Here's Plan B: Invoke your policies and protocols for decision making in the face of uncertainty. If you are a bit short on these, take a look at the work of Tversky and Kahneman: they've written some very informing papers on this very topic.
In short, even if the conclusion is not clear, not unambiguous, not not self-conflicting (wicked), make a judgment as informed as possible and press on! Franklin Roosevelt: "Try something!"
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