Some Factors Tending to Limit the Utility of the Social Scientist in Military Systems Analysis

Donald N. Michael
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Donald N. Michael: National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.

Operations Research, 1957, vol. 5, issue 1, 90-96

Abstract: What I am about to discuss should not be construed as pessimistic or negative since I have considerable hope for the future of the social sciences as a resource in military systems analysis. However, it has been my experience, and that of other social scientists, that there are certain difficulties which, when they arise, tend to limit our present value as a military resource. These difficulties seem more often to arise when the subject of evaluation is behavioral or institutional stress, though they are not the exclusive characteristics of a particular work problem. To the extent that an appreciation of these difficulties can provide conditions which encourage the reduction of their significance or prevalence, to that extent we will increase our utility in this field of research and application. This is a slightly revised version of an address delivered at the panel on Problems and Prospects for Military Sociology at the American Sociological Society, September 9, 1956. These comments do not necessarily reflect the views of any organizations with which the writer has been affiliated.

Date: 1957
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