ABSTRACT
Social impact assessment (SIA) to date has been characterized by an ad hoc project-by-project approach which has the apparent advantage that each SIA is tailored to the needs of those concerned with that particular project. This chapter presents a limited selection of case studies that provides an interesting and representative SIA situation, and not only assessed impacts but said something about the process of assessment, and/or the process of political decision-making. There are some general guidelines for policy analyses which are equally applicable to SIA reports. For example, a good SIA might well consist of baseline objective data gathered and organized in a systematic framework and relating to the critical issues involved. The objective data would be completed by a separate report of citizen opinion and preferences and other subjective data gathered by involvement in a public participation exercise, as well as the use of expert opinion where suitable.
