514 



Qualifications of the staff people who prepare the preliminary study 

 and questions are important in assuring that the information' sought 

 is pertinent to the issue. They need to be familiar with the issue ; pos- 

 sessing mature skills in receiving, interpreting, and evaluating infor- 

 mation in the technical discipline or disciplines related to it ; and skilled 

 in the analysis of information relating to technical issues in general. 



ASSURING AUTIIORITATTVE, ACCURATE, OBJECTIVE, TECHNICALLY SOUND 



INFORMATION 



No hard-and-fast rules determine for all cases what kinds of informa- 

 tion sources meet all or some of these five standards. For this reason 

 it is important that the staff that organizes the information-gathering 

 process have the qualifications to identify, by its own analysis of the 

 technical issue, the best sources for the particular purpose. 



Autlioritative 



In general, the requirement for "authoritative" information suggests 

 the need to draw upon the most respected and influential leaders in the 

 appropriate discipline, who have recently published in subjects close 

 to the issue. The most authoritative source may be a person uniquely 

 qualified by experience to give some piece of essential information. 

 Persons having a formal obligation to maintain standards of quality 

 of information, such as compilers of census data or persons whose 

 income depends on the accuracy of their store of information, may 

 on occasion serve as most authoritative sources. It is suggested that 

 insufficient use is made of working researchers in the field or labora- 

 tory, and that infonnation is drawn more often from scientific "com- 

 municators" than from scientific "researchers." The former can present 

 a more lucid overview ; the latter are likely to have a closer and more 

 up-to-date command of the facts. 



Accurate 



It is a question as to whether any single source can provide accurate 

 information. The implication of this requirement is that accuracy 

 is obtained by the comparison or cross-checking of information from 

 a number of sources of comparable quality. When conflicting data 

 come from several such sources, two questions arise: (1) "\Yliat is the 

 truth of the matter? (2) Why does the discrepancy exist? Answers to 

 these questions can come from a confrontation or adversary proceeding, 

 or by calling in further witnesses with comparable qualifications. 



The body of data accumulated by the investigation needs to be in- 

 ternally consistent. Anomalies cannot be tolerated ; when they occur, 

 further investigation is needed. An important staff function is the 

 scrutiny of the growing body of data to identify and investigate every 

 apparent inconsistency. Systematic elimination or clarification of such 

 inconsistencies is essential to assure that the information is reliable. 



Objective 



Since bias is inherent in all testimony, the elimination of bias auto- 

 matically calls for a multiplicity of sources of information. The bal- 



