21Cost–Benet Analyses
prevented any further benchmarking or analyses. Ratios are much more
meaningful than discrete numbers. Ratios give the number meaning and
context in correlation with other data categories. We calculated the back-
log/completion ratio for the two subsequent surveys and the backlog has
increased from 270,000 to 1,193,000 with a corresponding backlog/comple-
tion ratio from .26 to .30. Further analysis of cost ratios (costs/case) indicates
a decrease in costs per case ($400 per case decreased from $634 per case).
Does the cost gures derived from the survey include only personnel or all
costs including facilities? Do personnel cost gures include support services
such as legal, information technology, human resources, sc ...