Speaker: Aylin Sertkaya
Description: Decision-makers must frequently rely on data or information that is incomplete or inadequate in one way or another. Judgment, often from experts and occasionally from nonexperts, then plays a critical role in the interpretation and characterization of those data as well as in the completion of information gaps. But how experts or non-experts are selected, and their judgments elicited matters – they can also strongly influence the opinions obtained and the analysis on which they rely. Several approaches to eliciting judgments have evolved.
The workshop will cover topics ranging from recruitment, elicitation protocol design, different elicitation techniques (e.g., individual elicitations, Delphi method, nominal group technique, and focus groups) to aggregation methods for combining opinions of multiple individuals. The role of judgment elicitation and its limitations, problems, and risks in policy analysis will also be addressed. The workshop will include presentation of two case studies that will include a discussion of the selection process; elicitation protocol development, elicitation technique utilized, and the various issues that arose before, during, and after the elicitation process and the way they were resolved. The class will also include two hands-on exercises where participants will 1) learn about calibration of experts using a mobile application and 2) apply the Delphi and nominal group techniques to examine risk management issues associated with a popular topic.
Speaker: Linda K. Teuschler
Description: This problems-based, half-day, introductory workshop focuses on methods to assess health risks posed by exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment. The workshop will present key concepts and terminology used in chemical mixtures risk assessment. This workshop will discuss component methods that utilize assumptions of response addition and dose addition, including the following dose-additive methods: the hazard index, the interaction-based hazard index, relative potency factors, and toxicity equivalence factors. The integrated additioPlanned format (introductory lectures, methods tutorial with exercises, general discussion)?
Lectures, Individual and Group Exercises and General Discussion method also will be described. The workshop also will address whole mixture methods for assessing risks associated with chemical mixtures in the environment. The exercises developed in the workshop will be adapted from mixtures risk assessments conducted for waste sites, pesticide applications, metal exposures, and drinking water disinfection by-product exposures. The “hands-on” exercises demonstrating the methods are an essential part of this workshop. Discussions include real world examples, exercise results, and answers to general questions. (We ask participants to bring a calculator or laptop). The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
