Pressure point

Pressure points carry an implication of an investment, or choice, which is made only once, after which the system will run under the influence of that choice. Naturally, one seeks to find the pressure points which will make [the system being studied] run in the most effective manner possible, so pressure point analysis is still policy analysis, albeit of a slightly different type. Equally naturally, there is no hard-and-fast dividing line between the different modes of analysis and, in practice, a given study may involve both types (Coyle, 1996: 222). Also see policy.