This handbook for institutional researchers focuses on describing methods and techniques for conducting and merging external and internal analyses in order to produce an expanded vision of alternative future environments. Such vision is needed for the formulation of strategic long-range plans. Section 1 begins with a discussion of how an internal analysis is conducted. The components of such an analysis are a review of the current organizational mission, identification of critical performance indicators, and identification of organizational strengths and weaknesses. Section 2 (external analysis) focuses first on how to identify the most critical trends that define the context within which the organization will function in the future, then on how to identify potential events that, if they occurred, would affect those trends or the organization directly. In addition, forecasting trend levels and event probabilities and the impacts of both are reviewed, as well as a description of how to interrelate trends and events in cross-impact analysis and how to assess their effects on critical performance indicators. Section 3 gives details on how to analyze scenarios in order to derive their implications for policy analysis, described in section 4. An appendix is included which is designed to enhance discussion of the text, such as a group facilitator's guide, an article on environmental scanning activities, and sample pages from an environmental scanner's notebook. Contains 151 references. (GLR)