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Community-Based Operations Research pp 37–65Cite as

“Community-Based Operations Research”

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Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 167))

Abstract

“Community-based operations research” is defined as the collection of analytical methods applied to problem domains in which interests of underrepresented, underserved or vulnerable populations in localized jurisdictions, formal or informal, receive special emphasis, and for which solutions to problems of core concern for daily living must be identified and implemented so as to jointly optimize economic efficiency, social equity and administrative burdens. As such, it represents a specific domain within public-sector operations research. Community-based OR problems tend to be “messy” and highly dependent on political and social considerations. Nevertheless, solution of these problems is essential to the continued health and well-being of individuals, families, communities and entire regions.

This tutorial emphasizes current research in a variety of application areas. We identify a tension between problems that reflect unique characteristics of local communities and those that represent more general characteristics that bridge diverse communities. We propose principles for bridging the gap between quantitative model- and methods-based approaches typically associated with private-sector problems, and qualitative policy and process-oriented approaches typically associated with public-sector problems. We examine two research applications in detail: food security and affordable housing, and in so doing emphasize the commonality of problem attributes and the diversity of modeling and solution methods.

Originally published June 1, 2007

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Three of these papers appeared in a special 50th anniversary edition of Operations Research comprised of specially commissioned retrospectives.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Louis Luangkesorn at RAND Corporation, for initial inspiration to explore this domain in a formal way, and to Janet Hunziker at the National Academy of Engineering for providing opportunities to explore this area more deeply. Thanks also to Philip Akol, Robert Lien and Patrick Mallory for their research assistance and to Mark Daskin and Ed Kaplan for valuable literature references. This paper benefited greatly from the comments of Al Blumstein, two anonymous reviewers, and the editor of this volume. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, “CAREER: Public-Sector Decision Modeling for Facility Location and Service Delivery” (Michael Johnson) and “CAREER: Strategies to Improve Goods Movement: Operational Choice in Routing” (Karen Smilowitz).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael P. Johnson

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Karen Smilowitz

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  1. Michael P. Johnson
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Correspondence to Michael P. Johnson .

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  1. Dept. Public Policy & Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts, Boston, McCormack Hall, Boston, 02125-3393, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael P. Johnson

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Johnson, M.P., Smilowitz, K. (2012). “Community-Based Operations Research”. In: Johnson, M. (eds) Community-Based Operations Research. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 167. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0806-2_2

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