Acceptable Risk by Baruch Fischhoff

Acceptable Risk by Baruch Fischhoff

The common denominator of a growing number of hard decisions facing modern societies is the need to determine 'how safe is safe enough?'. The authors begin by defining acceptable-risk problems and analysing why they are so difficult to resolve, considering such issues as uncertainty about their definition, lack of relevant facts, conflicting and conflicted social values, and disagreements between technical experts and the lay public. Drawing on their own experience in risk management as well as the relevant research literatures, they identify and characterise the variety of methods that have been proposed for resolving acceptable-risk problems. They subject these methods to a rigorous critique in terms of philosophical presuppositions, technical feasibility, political acceptability, and validity of underlying assumptions about human behaviour. The authors construct a framework for deciding how to make decisions about risks, and offer recommendations for research, public policy, and practice. Although their principal focus is on technological hazards, their analysis applies to many risks, such as those from new medical treatments or innovative programmes in criminal justice. The necessity of balancing risks and benefits impinges on most people's lives, and a broad audience will find this book thought-provoking and useful.

'A brief summary cannot do justice to the depth and breadth of the analysis laid out in Acceptable Risk … [The authors] have achieved a masterly systematization of the many practical, methodological, and philosophical problems raised by attempts to answer the question, “how safe is safe enough?”' Nature
' … the best critical exposition of ways to think about risks … ends with many sensible recommendations …' Ian Hacking, The New York Review of Books

Paul Slovic, the company's founder and president, researches human judgment, decision-making, and risk assessment. He and his colleagues have created tools to describe risk perceptions and assess their effects on individuals, businesses, and society. He has a large number of publications and works as a consultant for industry and government. Dr. Slovic served as President of the Society for Risk Analysis and was honored with the organization's Outstanding Contribution Award in 1991. The American Psychological Society honored him with the Outstanding Scientific Contribution Award in 1993.

The Oregon Academy of Science honored him with the Distinguished Contribution to Science Award in 1995. The Stockholm School of Economics awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1996, and the University of East Anglia awarded him one in 2005. He has eight publications to his credit, the most recent of which are The Perception of Risk (2000) and The Social Amplification of Risk (2003).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521278928
ISBN 10	0521278929
Title	Acceptable Risk
Author	Baruch Fischhoff
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1984-01-27
Number of pages	204
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.