cleanfere.blogg.se

To build a better future, we identify five areas of action: Funding, Data, Ethics, Research Quality, and Research Training. That foundation needs a redesign in order for the social sciences to continue helping our communities address problems ranging from income inequality to education reform. These pressures have emerged from the fragmented institutional foundation that undergirds research. In addition, today’s social scientists face unprecedented demands for accountability, speedy publication, and generation of novel results.

Today, private companies represent an increasingly large share not just of research and funding, but also the production of data that informs the social sciences, from smart phone usage to social media patterns. Several decades ago, these institutions had clear zones of responsibility in producing social knowledge, with the federal government constituting the largest portion of funding for basic research. Our core finding focuses on the urgent need for new partnerships and collaborations among several key players: the federal government, academic institutions, donor organizations, and the private sector. And we have generated recommendations to address these issues. Following eighteen months of consultation with key players as well as internal deliberation, we have identified both long-term developments and present threats that have created challenges for the social sciences, but also created unique opportunities. This question has guided the Social Science Research Council’s Task Force. How can we secure social knowledge for future generations? From dwindling federal funding to public mistrust in institutions to widespread skepticism about data, the infrastructure supporting the social sciences is shifting in ways that threaten to undercut research and knowledge production. But today, the social sciences face serious threats. Summer Institute for Early-Career Scholarsįor decades, the social sciences have generated knowledge vital to guiding public policy, informing business, and understanding and improving the human condition.