Problem Structuring — A Literature Review

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the importance of methodology in Operational Research. The work on which this paper is based was done as a first step in an attempt at empirical investigation of Problem Structuring in the practice of O.R.

First, the term Problem Structuring is explained. The paper then summarises the treatments of problem structuring found in the O.R. and related literature, and describes the themes running through that literature in terms of four "streams of thought".