Usable Knowledge: Social Science and Social Problem Solving

Lindblom and Cohen contend that professional social inquiry (PSI) makes a minimal contribution to social problem solving compared to ordinary knowledge and interactive processes like markets, voting, and bargaining . Social scientists suffer from two misconceptions: overestimating the value of specialized scientific knowledge, and believing solutions must be determined analytically rather than through interaction . The book argues PSI should be reoriented toward diagnosing and improving interactive problem solving, not pursuing authoritative findings .

Lindblom and Cohen coined the term 'professional social inquiry' to describe the full range of social science research aimed at social problems—everything from historical research to mathematical modeling . They preferred this label over 'social science' because only part of the enterprise is strictly scientific . The term matters because the book's argument depends on distinguishing PSI from ordinary knowledge: the authors claim PSI is only one route to knowledge and must be combined with common sense and social interaction to be useful .

Reviewers raised several objections. Hans Zeisel argued the authors' main thesis 'does not come to grips with the problem they want to cure' and questioned whether the problem was real . Robert Rich criticized the essay for failing to trace the deep historical roots of the issues it addresses . A Kirkus review called it 'old wine in a new flask' that sets up 'straw men'—hard-nosed believers in social science mastery—and knocks them down .

Lindblom and Cohen argue this is precisely the misconception the book targets. Social scientists believe their specialized knowledge can directly identify optimal policies, but decision makers rarely use it because ordinary knowledge and interactive processes dominate . The authors do not treat this as a failure to be deplored—they contend interactive problem solving through markets, voting, and bargaining is often more effective than analysis . The book's subtitle signals this corrective: social science and social problem solving are not the same thing.

The book extends Lindblom's long-running critique of rational-comprehensive decision-making. Where 'The Science of Muddling Through' (1959) argued administrators use successive limited comparisons, Usable Knowledge shifts focus from individual decision strategies to the broader question of what knowledge actually contributes to problem solving . Both works share a skepticism toward synoptic rationality, but this book applies that skepticism specifically to the social science research enterprise, asking whether professional inquiry delivers the usable knowledge it promises.