PROBLEM FORMULATION
Charles François (2004). PROBLEM FORMULATION, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2633.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2633 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
The statement as precise as possible of the unsatisfactory situation or issue, in relation to the possibilities to correct it.
Apart from the difficulties of the diagnosis, problem formulation depends on the viewpoint of different stakeholders. The unilateral view of only one or some of them, when imposed through the use of authority, frequently leads to new problems.
Given these caveats, we can follow K. KRIPPENDORFF's description: The problem can be identified by specifying:
- “a) the undesirable and problematic state currently occupied,
- “b) the resources currently available to move away from that problematic state, particularly the available courses of actions, the combinatorial constraints on using them, etc, and
- “c) the criteria that need to be satisfied to say that a problem no longer exists or is solved” (1986, p.61).
J. WARFIELD's Interpretive Structural Modeling seems to be the most efficient methodology for problem formulation.