ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we introduced a general framework for understanding collaborative spatial decision making. The framework helps lay out a systematic way of conducting a task analysis as the basis of a user needs assessment for setting up collaborative decision making approaches to problem solving and decision making and for analysing collaborative decision making processes. Guided by that framework, we now present specific methods and tools for participatory spatial decision support, and the hardware and software architectures to implement decision support. Methodologies and tools for participatory group decision making come from many sources. They include work on GIS extensions aimed at improving its decision support capabilities, work on group support systems technology as well as theoretical and empirical studies of its use. Other sources include work on capturing the dynamics of argumentation, research on the human dimensions of groupware and computer networking, and critiques of GIS as a construction of positivist thinking, constraining alternative views of reality that otherwise might broaden the decision making discourse. These sources bring various viewpoints of decision making that can be generalized as a decision analytical and collaborative approach. The analytical approach uses mathematical models to analyze structured parts of a decision problem, leaving the unstructured parts for the decision makers’ judgement. The collaborative approach views decision making as an evolutionary process that progresses from an unstructured discourse to a problem resolution using discussion, argumentation, and voting. We argue that both approaches are needed in a group decision support environment and that in order to support effectively group participation in decision making, collaboration and decision analysis tools must be integrated. We present a variety of methods and tools for participatory group decision support.
