Document Actions
Peer Review
"FIELD is critical to the average citizen’s knowledge,
simply because it can communicate fiscal impact analysis
in a way that most models can’t."
Dr. Robert W. Burchell, Ph.D., Rutgers University, December 2006
To assess FIELD's validity and credibility, the Planning Commission sought an independent review. Dr. Robert Burchell, Ph.D. and Co-Director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University and a colleague, William Dolphin, reviewed FIELD in April, 2006.
The peer review evaluation described the FIELD model as “excellent,” and observed that:
FIELD “provides reasonable fiscal results.”
There are NO “other models more appropriate to the task.”
There are NO “other models intellectually more rigorous.”
Recommendations for improvements to FIELD are also included in the peer review evaluation. Many of these recommendations have already been adopted, while others will be incorporated in future versions.
Finally, the peer review recommended that local Hillsborough County governments need to endorse FIELD and make it available for land-use decisions. However, FIELD should not be used as the sole reason for making a land use decision, but rather as a tool for informing and guiding decision makers as they consider various land-use options.
"This model will bring honesty, and information,
and truisms to the discussion,
and that's exactly what you want out of a model."
Dr. Robert W. Burchell, Ph.D., Rutgers University, December 2006