1.7 Case study: the poverty trap
1.7 Case study: the poverty trap
Key points
We ask three questions to study a complex situation : (1) What is changing ? (2) How is it changing ? (3) Why is it changing ?
- What is changing : identify the variable of interest whose behavior you would like to explain.
- How is it changing : Write a concise description of the problem situation. It should identify the variable, its behavior and the time period.
- Why is it changing : Read widely and list all variables that may have contributed to the change in the variable of interest over the time period. Draw the connection circle.
Once you have drawn the systemic structure (connection circle), you can then mentally simulate the impact of different actions to influence the situation.
1. Watch the video
Additional materials
- Video sources and bibliography. The web sites, attributions and sources cited in the video “A 13 minute wicked case study: the poverty trap”.
- The video transcript.