The Guide is a tool for practitioners at all levels —social scientists, agency employees, community leaders, volunteers—to complete social impact assessments (SIA’s) efficiently and effectively. The Guide is a how-to manual that provides the users with a step-by-step process easily followed by persons with minimal social science training. The Guide is organized into three sections:
• Chapters 1-6 provides the background, a short history, the conceptual model, the SIA scoping process and an explanation as to how to obtain data to measure SIA variables.
• Chapters 7-11 correspond to the five categories of SIA variables--population change, community and institutional arrangements, communities in transition, individual and family impacts and community infrastructure needs.
• Chapters 12-13 provide worksheets for summarizing SIA variables, and how resulting data may be used in the SIA mitigation/enhancement process.
Rabel J. Burdge is professor of sociology and environmental studies at Western Washington University in Bellingham and professor emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A former President of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA), he is now devoting time to workshops and consultation in the field of SIA and public involvement.