Compare a policy’s distribution of benefits
Can equal total benefits reach different groups?
Entering midway? Revisit Translate a dramatic headline for the preceding worked example, or start here and use the explanation below.
Start with a concrete question
Three fictional repair plans serve north and south regions with whole-plan budget requirements.
Try the initial inputs, then write a prediction before changing one setting. All calculations run locally on your CPU.
What do you expect?
Before changing a setting: Can equal total benefits reach different groups? Write what you expect and why.
Change one thing. Inspect what happens.
- Compare the two six-unit policies at equal budget.
- Inspect benefit distribution as well as totals.
- Try the larger plan below its funding requirement.
- Write a recommendation with a fairness criterion, missing population evidence and a review date.
Your settingsMechanism
Calculation belowEvidence
Compare outcomes
Compare the current results
Every bar starts at zero and uses the same numeric scale in this chart. The upper bound automatically adjusts to the largest current value (at least 1), so compare the numbers when changing inputs. Units and quantities come from each label; different kinds of quantity are not interchangeable. Displayed values are rounded to at most six significant digits.Follow the calculation
- Plan: central repairs; needs 6 budget units. Available=6.
- Whole plan funded: north gains 8; south gains 2.
- Both regions begin with 10 broken taps. Counts say nothing about population size, distance, disability access or cost per user.
Compare total benefit and its distribution. State the fairness criterion and identify missing evidence before defending a policy.
Write a policy recommendation
Compare total and regional benefit, budget feasibility, a stated fairness criterion, missing evidence and an accountable next step.
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Compare with my earlier draft
Choose the biggest plan because more is always better. Distribution does not matter.
Explain what you changed and why in your observation notes. Text differences do not establish quality.
Inspect an example solution after your attempt
With six units, central and distributed plans each restore ten taps. The distributed plan restores five in each region; central restores eight north and two south. Choose a criterion explicitly and collect population and access data. The ten-unit upgrade is infeasible at this budget.
This is one worked example. Test another input and explain its limitations.
Captures keep your inputs, prediction and observation. Results are recalculated from those inputs. Resetting inputs keeps your captures and challenge history.
Explain the mechanism
Compare a policy’s distribution of benefits
Three fictional repair plans serve north and south regions with whole-plan budget requirements.
Follow the mechanism
Central and distributed repairs both restore ten taps but allocate them differently.
The larger plan cannot start below ten units in this whole-plan fixture.
Equal taps do not imply equal access: population, distance and accessibility need evidence.
Worked example
Plan: central repairs; needs 6 budget units. Available=6.
Whole plan funded: north gains 8; south gains 2.
Both regions begin with 10 broken taps. Counts say nothing about population size, distance, disability access or cost per user.
Calculation
Total restored = north restored + south restored, only when budget ≥ whole-plan cost.
Try a controlled comparison
Compare the two six-unit policies at equal budget.
Inspect benefit distribution as well as totals.
Try the larger plan below its funding requirement.
Write a recommendation with a fairness criterion, missing population evidence and a review date.
What this does not establish
- All messages, people, documents and outcomes here are original fictional teaching fixtures; results are not measurements of real organizations.
Try a fresh case
A plan restores 4 taps in one region and 8 in another at a cost of 6 budget units. How many taps per budget unit are restored?
This is a public practice check. Retries support learning; matching a number does not certify independent proficiency.
Take the investigation further
Choose any extension. These are project prompts for you to carry out; they are not automatically assessed.
School investigation
Create a new case with different numbers and explain your decision to a classmate.
College investigation
Implement or analyze a fresh case, document assumptions and compare at least two alternatives.
Workplace investigation
Prepare a decision artifact with evidence, operating constraints, an owner and a follow-up measurement.
Keep the evidence, choose your next step
Completion records your own decision that you have worked through this investigation. Practice checks and independent project evidence are separate.