13.1 Denver Bullet Study

Learning Goals

[Link to PlayPosit]

[Link to instructional video]

More details

After this lesson, students should

1. Be optimistic that a community can come together to make a decision, even when people begin with heterogeneous values and beliefs.
2. Be able to identify the stakeholders and experts and distinguish between the values and facts of an issue.

Definitions

• Stakeholders

  The set of people who have a stake in the outcome of a decision. This can include people who will implement the decision and all the people affected by it.

• Experts

  The set of people who have the most knowledge/information/expertise about the facts relevant to the decision.

• Denver Bullet Study

  An experiment in group deliberation in which a community came together to share values and knowledge to make a decision about what kind of bullet the Denver Police should use, which had enough stopping power to keep cops safe but was not so harmful as to cause unnecessary damage to citizens (as did classic hollow bullets).

Common Misconceptions

• The town should vote on whether they think these windmills kill seabirds or cause loud noise.

  These are factual factors that most stakeholders (townspeople) would not have informed opinions on. Instead, they should be evaluated by relevant experts. Stakeholders can then vote (or put numerical weights) on how much they value the lives of seabirds or quietness.

• We should just let the experts make all the decisions.

  It is important to involve the public (or relevant stakeholders) in making group decisions, as factual evaluation must be combined with a group's values judgment (of what they deem important). Experts can give their evaluation of factual matters, but they may not represent the values of the stakeholders.

Context

Near the end of the course, we introduce some techniques for group decision making that have seen some real-world success. Denver Bullet Study exemplifies the division of a contentious issue into facts and values.

Before

1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant

Facts and values of an issue are distinguished in the Denver Bullet Study method. Facts are evaluated by experts, while values are decided by polling stakeholders.

5.1 Scientific Optimism

Even as the public seem to have reached an impasse on a contentious issue, there are still techniques that can be used to reach a consensus.

After

13.2 Deliberative Polling

Another technique for group decision making in which experts and stakeholders are involved and facts and values are distinguished. Through group deliberation punctuated by Q&A with an expert panel, it aims to predict the change in public opinion if the public were to be more factually informed on a contentious issue, but it does not aim to reach a consensus or directly decide on a policy.

Recommended Outline

Before Class

• [Any essential logistical things that need to be done for this class]
• Prepare a seating chart.
• Review PlayPosit and discussion questions and ask faculty, Gabriel, or Emlen any questions you have.
• (Optional) Prepare a presentation.

During Class

• (5 min) Come up with some fun way to assign the roles of spokesperson and notetaker (e.g. earliest birthday in the year, lives furthest from campus). Remind them of the responsibilities of these roles.
• ([#] min) [Description of some module from #Lesson Content]
• (5 min) Collect questions for plenary.

After Class

• [Any essential logistical things that need to be done as followup for this class]
• Collect answers from notetakers for the forum / plenary.

Lesson Content

Clicker Question

1. Question
   1. First option
   2. Second option
   3. Third option
   4. Fourth option

Activity 1: Name

[Brief description of and motivation for the activity]

Discussion Questions

1. Question 1
   1. Subquestion a

   2. Subquestion b

Collect Questions for Plenary

(5 min) Collect remaining questions from the students for faculty in plenary (can be questions for clarification, extension, discussion, etc.), and add [ here].