Guidelines for the Topic Illustration paper (due December 3)

An excellent paper will be one in which you clearly convey an understanding of the material of the class, and a creativity and insight in applying the course topics to real-life situations or problems. Things to include in your papers:

Make sure you clearly describe the situation. If you're using a newspaper or magazine article as your source, briefly summarize (in a paragraph or two) the key points of the article that are relevant to your discussion. If you're describing an experience you've had, make sure to give relevant background so that the reader can
understand the context of the judgment/decision situation.

Make sure you correctly identify the effect (or effects) that applies to the example you choose (e.g., misperception of random sequences, illusory correlation, judgment by availability or representativeness, loss aversion, decision framing, etc.) If several possible effects could all be working in concert, describe how they might work together, how each effect might contribute to different aspects of the described situation, and how you might be able to distinguish between different explanations.

If you are documenting an error, mistake, or something otherwise undesirable: how might you go about improving the situation? For example, if you consider an example where a manager shows a possible hindsight bias in evaluating the usefulness of predictions, what specific steps could be taken to correct the problem?

The papers will be graded based on four primary criteria:

• Correctness: misidentifying or incorrectly describing one of the topics of the course is, naturally, undesirable.
• Relevance to the course: there should be a clear link between the example(s) you describe and the content of the lectures, class discussions and demonstrations, or readings.
• Clarity of writing
• Interestingness and depth of analysis

Some topics of past papers:

• The Role of Framing within the Kosovo Crisis
• Pleasantville – What a Place to be a Decision Maker
• Framing and Male Pattern Baldness
• Uncertainty and the Stock Market
• Framing the Impeachment Scandal
• Decision Making Traps in Personal Relationships
• The Power of Frames
• Overconfidence and My Uncle

Topics this year:

• Judgment by availability prevented a subway series
• A riskless economy
• School violence and the gun control issue
• Consumer heuristic biases used for retail marketing decisions
• Decision process failures as seen in man-made disasters
• SBC Communications merges with Prodigy
• The stock market and decision traps
• Decision-making in the casino
• Marketing and the status quo bias in a deregulating electricity industry
• A poor decision for Jack
• How should a good president make decisions? Analysis of President Chavez in Venezuela
• The failure of re-engineering efforts
• The Space Shuttle Challenger launch decision
• Decision making in response to school shootings
• Sold to the man with the Notre Dame tie!
• Never second-guess a grenade
• Framing in black and white
• Decision to introduce New Coke
• Value-focused thinking and affirmative action
• Heuristics biases made in mystery movies
• Top Gun Tom locks his target on the transfer: My brother's job search