Students may need help to distinguish between well-reasoned and emotive arguments and to respect other people's opinions. Governments and individuals often have to make decisions about controversial issues. Decisions can be based on emotion, impulse, random choice, habit, policy, precedent, or on the careful consideration of all the facts and options available. Although consideration requires time and effort, this process helps to identify more options. Making thoughtful decisions should include considering the constraints related to an issue or a problem.
Constraints limit the number of possible options for solving a problem.
Most decisions involve accepting one or more compromises, which economists term trade-offs . Accepting trade-offs means that one must reach an acceptable balance between the benefits and costs of various options. What is an acceptable balance is often the difficult part of the decision-making process. The Australian Foundation for Science and the Science and Technology Awareness Program of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources are also supporters of Nova . This topic is sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources .