518 



Modes of Information Gathering 



An unlimited number of different kinds of situations, processes, and 

 devices can be conceived of as useful for congressional information 

 gatherino;. It is likely that the quality of information received is in- 

 fluenced by the situation, and that different witnesses respond best to 

 different situations. Two liypotheses are suggested by observations 

 drawn from the present case study. One is that adversary proceedings 

 tend to be more illuminating and produce more information than do 

 consensus presentations. Another possibly useful hypothesis is that 

 the more different modes of information gathering tliat are used, the 

 more complete and satisfactory will be the information secured. Un- 

 fortunately, none of the cases (with the possible exception of the Salk 

 vaccine panel discussion) illustrates a deliberate attempt to structure 

 an adversary proceeding. A valuable inadvertent instance, however, 

 occurred in the drug testimony reported in the thalidomide case. The 

 concluding case, concerning criteria for water resources projects, illus- 

 trates best the hypothesis as to the benefits of a variety of modes of in- 

 formation gathering. 



Data Analysis 



_ An important element of the task of assuring completeness of tech- 

 nical information on an issue is the analysis by the staff of the col- 

 lected information. Information gathering requires that the staff have 

 adequate groimding in the relevant disciplines to receive technical in- 

 formation understandingly : analysis requires that the staff also have 

 sufficient knowledge and perspective in the relevant disciplines to 

 focus on essentials, detect and investigate anomalies, record essential 

 agreements among technical witnesses, and refine the quantitative data 

 on comparative co-st/effectiveness of the technical alternatives. How- 

 ever, man}^ other purposes can be served. 



The analysis can identify subsidiary issues with scientific content 

 that may require political resolution, and certifv^ to the adequacy of 

 technical information needed for such resolution. It can identify those 

 questions on which the science community sees a need for further ac- 

 cumulation of data. It can identify aspects on which, in the judgment 

 of the staff, insufficient technical information has been secured, and 

 pursue these back to the technical data sources. It can obtain guidance 

 as to how to insure that further research is conducted that is needed 

 to provide answers in the future to enable a progressively improving 

 resolution of the scientific issue. It can identify those interfaces witli 

 the political world that are of particular interest or concern to the 

 Congress. 



Two modern developments are pai-ticularlv relevant to the analvsis 

 stage in the technical information function for political decision- 

 making. One is the systems approach, which imposes on the analyst 

 a disciplined rigor of procedure, forcino; him to think rigorously 

 about many aspects and relationships within the issue he is studying. 

 The other is the digital computer with its capacity for storing very 

 large numbers of bits of information and retrieving selected categories 

 of them on instruction. The systems approach enables an orderly anal- 

 ysis of the dynamic features and interfaces of the issue ; the computer 

 makes possible the manipulation of the information to yield insights 

 and reveal quantitative relationships and elements of sensiti-\dty. 



