The Importance of Problem Definition: Ideas for discussion

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The Importance of Problem Definition Ideas
for discussion

• Rebecca E. Morss (NCAR)

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Why problem definition?

• The words you use to talk about a problem or
  issue affect
• Which alternative solutions you consider and
  which you believe is the best solution
• How you communicate about the issue
• The extent to which others agree the issue or
  topic is a problem worth addressing
• Therefore, it can be valuable to think about how
  problems are defined and issues are discussed

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• - Earth observations benefit weather forecasts
• Therefore more observations will improve
  forecasts
• - Weather forecasts benefit society
• Therefore better forecasts will enhance
  societal benefit
• and more observations will enhance societal
  benefit
• Corollary In order to benefit society, we need
  better forecasts, and thus more observations

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• False alarms lead people to ignore future
  warnings.
• Therefore the National Weather Service should
  lower its warning false alarm rate.
• Under what circumstances?
• What is a false alarm?
• Which warnings? Which people?
• What is meant by ignoring warnings?
• What happens when people ignore warnings?
• What did people do before the false alarms?
• How is false alarm rate defined? What is it now?
  How much should it be lowered?

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• Studying (or considering) weather and society in
  an integrated way is important.
• To whom is this important? Why?
• In what depth does weather-society integration
  need to be studied / considered? How? By who?
• What does integrated mean?
• And so on . . .

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QuestionsandDiscussion