Unit 1 Decision-Making Grid Name: Sabrina Baftiri

What Should I Do After Graduation?

To satisfy peoples wants and needs we must make decisions. Good decision makers need to
know
how to identify the problem and analyze all alternatives in a way that
considers costs and benefits. One approach to decision-making is the decision-making grid.

Recall Figure 1.4, p. 15 what would you do with 50 dollars? In this example, Jesse decided to
spend $50.00 on jeans. His opportunity cost was the next best choice soccer ball or
cassette player that he gave up.

Directions: Fill in four current possibilities you are considering for after graduation (i.e. 4
different colleges, military, bum in parents basement, etc). Decide on the weight or
importance of each criterion to you individually and fill in the appropriate row. Rate the criterion
for each choice from 1 (poor) 4 (exemplar) based on how well it meets that criterion. Lastly,
multiply each number by the weight of that criterion and add the total scores for each option.

Example:
Criteria Affordability Location Extra- Overall Appeal Total Score
Curriculars and Long-term
Benefits

Weight x 5 x 2 x 3 x4

The Ohio Rating x Weight 2x2=4 3x3=9 3 x 4 = 12 45

State =
University 2 x 5 = 20

Criteria Affordability Location Extra- Overall Total RATING

S
Curricular Appeal Score
 s & Long-
4:
term
exemplar
Benefit y
s 3: good
2:
Weight X3 X5 x4 x5 satisfacto
ry
University of 3x3=9 5x5=25 4x4=16 4x5= 70 1: poor
St. Francis 20
WEIGHT
Illinois State 3x3=9 4x5=20 4x4=16 3x5= 60
University 15 x4:
Greatest
x3: Good
St. Ambrose 3x3=9 3x5=15 3x4=12 4x5= 56
x2: Fair
University 20 x1: Poor

Illinois 2x3=6 4x5=20 3x4=12 3x5= 53

Wesleyan 15
University

1. In the end, which option satisfied more of the criteria than any other alternative?
In the end, the school that satisfied more of the criteria than any other alternative was the
University of St. Francis because it had the highest score out of any of the other schools.

2. What was the opportunity cost of your decision?

The opportunity cost of my criteria was the overall location of the school. For the University of
St. Francis, the location ended up being the highest score for my four schools selected. This is
the opportunity cost because I value being close to home and family. The school, however, met
the highest score for this criteria so the cost wasnt as great as it would be if the school would
have been far away.

3. What was the highest score? Lowest score?

Highest: was the University of St. Francis, Lowest: was Illinois Wesleyan University

When do you think the opportunity cost is greater? Why?

Opportunity cost is greater when you dont have to give up something, because when giving
something up, you have to give up the benefits that come with it.
4. Why is using a decision-making grid an effective way to analyze an economic problem?
Using a grid like this is really helpful because it helps you compare and examine the
costs and benefits of economic problems. Using this grid really made my decision easier on
where I should go to college so, I feel like if you were to use this for an economic problem, it
would make it easier to make decisions on what to do to solve the economic problems.