Updated Articles

  1. Levels of Measurement

    There are four types of number scales: NOIR The nominal scale of measurement only satisfies the identity property of measurement.  Values assigned to variables represent a descriptive category, but they have no inherent numerical value with res...
  2. Satisficing

    Satisficing is a decision-making strategy that aims for a satisfactory or adequate result rather than the optimal result, because aiming for the optimal solution may necessitate needless expenditure of time, energy and resources. 1 A combinatio...
  3. Nutshell briefings

    The nutshell briefing rule is a quick and easy approach to decision making that can sometimes save time and effort in arriving at adequate judgments; however, reliance on such rules more often results in judgmental errors and can create grossly misl...
  4. Simple tradeoffs

    Making decisions involves making tradeoffs  among objectives; this is a difficult and poorly understood aspect of decision making.  Decisions become difficult when they involve several competing objectives.  The greater the number of objectives, th...
  5. Heuristics

    Heuristics are decision-making techniques that simplify the process of coming to a reasonable decision when the "perfect" decision is unreachable or unknowable.  Heuristics may be understood as mental shortcuts that enable individuals to make quic...
  6. Rules of thumb

    A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. 1  It is based not on theory but on practical experience. FW Taylor, who is often called "The Father of Scientif...
  7. Intuition

    Intuitive decision-making is described as the process by which information, acquired through associated learning and stored in long-term memory, is accessed unconsciously to form the basis of a judgment or decision. 1    Intuition is based on the i...
  8. Representativeness Heuristic

    Representativeness is the tendency to over/underestimate based on generalizations or imprecise deductive reasoning, or where certain important pieces of information are overlooked.  The Representativeness heuristic is commonly used when making judg...
  9. Anchoring

    Anchoring (or focalism) is a cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") when making decisions.  During decision-making, anchoring occurs when one uses an ini...
  10. Availability Bias

    Availability Bias is the tendency to let an example that easily comes to mind easily affect decision-making or reasoning. 1   This occurs when we overweight evidence that comes more easily to mind or is more prevalent in our memories. The study o...