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Social Impact Assessment: Methodological Overview

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Environmental Impact Assessment

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 14))

Abstract

While environmental impact assessment has focused mainly on the physical and biological properties of natural environments, social impact assessment (SIA) is concentrated on the distinctively human side of human environments. SIA is about “people impacts” —what we are doing to folks (or failing to do for them) where they live, in families and communities, as a consequence of formulating policies, instituting programs and building projects. Its aim is to predict and evaluate those impacts before they have happened. Unlike the more familiar “ evaluation research,” which gauges the effectiveness of policies, programs and projects already in operation,the task for SIA is anticipatory research. It seeks to place the expectation and attainment of desired outcomes on a more rational and reliable basis.

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  1. Department of Social Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of New York, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    C. P. Wolf

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    © 1983 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague

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    Wolf, C.P. (1983). Social Impact Assessment: Methodological Overview. In: Environmental Impact Assessment. NATO ASI Series, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6795-3_13

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6795-3_13

    • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

    • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6797-7

    • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6795-3

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