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affected by public opinion as was true for the agency in this example. This is also an example both of how the system is dynamic and of the reciprocal influence of some parts of Ihe system upon others. In this case, public opinion was of little or no imporlance in the evalua- tions of the initial plan and of the first evaluation of this plan by Ihe decision agency. In fact, the public attitude was a latent factor until the decision was made public. However, after announcement of the plan, the aesthetic inlerests of people in the area became threat- ened which motivated them to respond and a segment of public opinion became strongly negative, moved to aClion, and thereby influenced the agency to rejecl the plan. Section Five: The Final Decision and A1lernative Actions If the opposition is ineffective or nonexistent then a final acceptance decision can be made. If, how- ever, Section Four of the model, Public Reaclion, in- dicates that Ihe opposition to a particular action is successful, other alternative actions or potential solu- tions are considered in a search for acceptable solutions. Alternative actions are assumed to be introduced one at a time in lhis conceptualization. This is a simplifi- cation, but multiple proposal can be considered se- quentially; so this not a serious limitation. This pro- cess continues until either one of the proposed actions is found acceptable in Section Four and the model is thus able to move to the implementation section (Section Six) or no additional actions remain for con- sideration. In the case where no acceptable solutions are found, the process would either slop or begin again from Section One using any changes which may have occurred in the initial or starting conditions. As Indicated by Figure 4.1, a similar return 10 Seclion One can occur at the end of the initial decision stage (Section Three) if no action plans had been developed which were satisfactory 10 the decision agency. Seclion Six: Implementation of the Action Plan Following project approval, Ihe last stage is im- plementation of the plan. This lasl stage of the mod- el also indicates the effects of the social decisions upon both the hydrologic syslem and Ihe public. The physical effecls would relale to Ihe watershed and ils drainage characteristics by allering the hydrologic parameters. The effects of these modifc.tions to the hydrologic syslem are examined through operation of the hydrolgoic ccmponent of the model. If the pro- jecl is satisf.clory, it will end the currenl problem. As this information dissemin.tes to the public, the pub- lie perception of a need fer flood control represented in the firsl slage of the model will change, and Ihe public will not consider further aclion necessary. At this point, one sequence of steps will have ended. However, the hydrologic system is continually functioning, and evenls can occur which will cause problems for the public and again place pressure on the agencies. In addition other social factors and the desires of flood control agencies for achieving their mission objectives will cause additional proposals to be made, and Ihe process outlined by the flow chart in Figure 4.1 will occur again. The process continues indefinitely. The Decision Process and Some Important Theoretical Concepts The linear regression analysis method was used to mathematically model the six.stage process. The method assumes additivity of relationships and linear- ity of terms. This last assumption, however, does not preclude some other interactions which are vital in understanding this process. Social Theorelical Aspecls of Modeling the Decision Process In addition to the linearity assumption, there are certain underlying assumptions on sociological structural development which are made in modeling the decision system. Certain causal elements are as- sumed to underly a "structural-interactional system. II These would affect the main system as well as its sub- systems. The system is established to provide a means for action that fulfills the beliefs or needs of a population. There are three aspects to this construct. I. The ideological aspect: belief in something that has meaning for the believers. It may be a quality of life factor, an aesthetic inleresl, etc. 2. The awareness aspect: where a number of people have an awareness of a common inter- eSI, belief or need. 3. The struclural aspect: development of an or. ganized system 10 express or take action to achieve the common interests or beliefs. These elemenls underly any decision or action system. One of Ihe great difficulties in predicting human behavior is in the problem of represenling Ihe subtle and latent subjective elements that influence what so