MLSC 507. An Introduction to the Social Sciences and Social Systems.
Winter 2007
Written Assignment 7. Due March 30.
Introduction
In January 2005, the City of Houston initiated the SAFEclear Program. The goal
of the program is to assist stalled and wrecked vehicles on Houston's highways.
Wrecker companies are allocated segments of highways. When a car is stalled or
unable to move because of an accident, the wrecker driver will provide assistance
to get the car moving again. If this is not possible, then the wrecker will tow
the disabled car off the highway.
If the program works as intended, both accidents and congestion should be reduced.
Your assignment is to develop a model that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness
of the SAFEclear program.
What To Do
- You should propose 2 hypotheses about the impact of SAFEclear. These
hypotheses should be phrased so that the “direction” is in terms of an
effective SAFEclear program.
- You should explain each hypothesis. That is, what is involved in “the
arrow?”
- You should discuss 2 factors that could make SAFEclear look more
effective than it really is. How would each of these factors create
this impression?
- You should discuss 2 factors that could make SAFEclear look less
effective than it really is. How would each of these factors create
this impression?
Information Sources
You may develop your own sources of information. But that is not necessary.
You can successfully complete the assignment using just the sources of information
listed here.
Alternative Assignment
If you prefer, you can propose an alternative topic for the assignment. That is,
you can propose that you build a model on a different topic. You will still
have to do the bullet points noted above as they would apply to your model. If
you want to do the alternative assignment, you must fulfill two conditions:
- It must be on a topic for which you already have substantive knowledge.
- I must approve the alternative topic no later than Wednesday, March 14
at 4 PM.
Honor Code.
This assignment is pledged. You may not consult anyone
else in the class. One exception: someone may help you with software to do the
graphs. If you have any question about how the Honor Code applies to this
assignment, please consult me.