The Logic of Warfighting Experiments
Abstract
Military transformation is about change. Transformation decisions rest on the proposition that developing better military capabilities will produce or cause better military effects. Experimentation is uniquely suited to support transformation decisions. Experimentation involves changing something and observing the effects so that one can reach conclusions about cause and effect. Experimentation is the preferred scientific method for determining causality. Experimentation has proven itself in science and technology, yielding dramatic advances. Can researchers apply the same experimental methods to the military transformation process? Can the same experimental methods achieve similar advances in military effectiveness? The thesis of this book is that robust experimentation methods from the sciences can be adapted and applied to military experimentation and will provide the foundation for continual advancement in military effectiveness. This book has three purposes. The first is to show that there is an inherent logic and coherence to experimentation when experimentation is understood as the pursuit of cause and effect. The second purpose is to illustrate that this logic is easy to understand and extremely useful when designing experiments to support the capability development process. The third purpose is to present a framework derived from this logic to organize "best practices" and provide a rationale for considering tradeoffs among these techniques in the design of experiments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA457164
Entities
People
- Richard. A. Kass
Organizations
- United States Assistant Secretary of Defense