Nearly every major challenge the United States facesâ€"from alleviating unemployment to protecting itself from terrorismâ€"requires understanding the causes and consequences of people's behavior. Even societal challenges that at first glance appear to be issues only of medicine or engineering or computer science have social and behavioral components. Having a fundamental understanding of how people and societies behave, why they respond the way they do, what they find important, what they believe or value, and what and how they think about others is critical for the country's well-being in today's shrinking global world. The diverse disciplines of the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences ―anthropology, archaeology, demography, economics, geography, linguistics, neuroscience, political science, psychology, sociology, and statistics―all produce fundamental knowledge, methods, and tools that provide a greater understanding of people and how they live. The Value of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences to National Priorities evaluates whether the federal government should fund SBE research at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and, specifically, whether SBE research furthers the mission of the NSF to advance national priorities in the areas of health, prosperity and welfare, national defense, and progress in science; advances the missions of other federal agencies; and advances business and industry, and to provide examples of such research. This report identifies priorities for NSF investment in the SBE sciences and important considerations for the NSF for strategic planning.

Social, behavioral, and economic science research : oversight of the need for federal funding and priorities for funding : hearing before the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, Thursday, June 2, 2011.

Social, behavioral, and economic science research: oversight of the need for federal funding and priorities for funding : hearing before the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, Thursday, June 2, 2011.

This report, "Social, behavioral and economic Research in the Federal Context", was developed by the National Science and Technology Council. The social, behavioral and economic (SBE) sciences are focused on human behavior and the actions of groups and organizations at every level. Research information provided by the SBE sciences can provide policy-makers with evidence and information that may help address many current challenge areas in society, including education, health care, the mitigation of terrorism, the prevention of crime, the response to natural disasters, and a better understanding of our rapidly changing global economy. This is a particularly important time to reassess the role and opportunities for the SBE sciences in all of these areas. Recent advances in genomics, neuroscience, computing, imaging and other areas, have combined to provide revolutionary new tools for SBE scientific study. The report is a distillation of the most pressing scientific challenges in the SBE sciences, and their policy implications for Federal agencies. It outlines the specific tools, methodology, and infrastructure that are changing our understanding of how these challenges in the social and behavioral arenas may be addressed. In doing so, it strikes a balance between scientific and policy agendas and identifies new areas of SBE science that can inform policy decisions.

Institutional review boards (IRBs) are the linchpins of the protection systems that govern human participation in research. In recent years, high-profile cases have focused attention on the weaknesses of the procedures for protecting participants in medical research. The issues surrounding participants protection in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences may be less visible to the public eye, but they are no less important in ensuring ethical and responsible research. This report examines three key issues related to human participation in social, behavioral, and economic sciences research: (1) obtaining informed, voluntary consent from prospective participants: (2) guaranteeing the confidentiality of information collected from participants, which is a particularly challenging problem in social sciences research; and (3) using appropriate review procedures for "minimal-risk" research. Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research will be important to policy makers, research administrators, research sponsors, IRB members, and investigators. More generally, it contains important information for all who want to ensure the best protectionâ€"for participants and researchers alikeâ€"in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences.