Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy
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The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, also known as ISERP, is the research arm of the social sciences at Columbia University. ISERP works to produce pioneering social science research and to shape public policy by integrating knowledge and methods across the social scientific disciplines. ISERP organizes an active intellecual community at Columbia University through its Faculty Fellows program, research centers, projects, and training initiatives. Peter Bearman is currently the Director of the Institute.
[edit] History
ISERP is the direct descendant of the Bureau for Applied Social Research (BASR), established at Columbia University in 1944 by sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld. One of the first social science institutes in the nation, the Bureau made landmark contributions to communications research, public opinion polling, organizational studies, and social science methodology. BASR’s tradition was carried on by the Center for the Social Sciences, established in 1976 after Lazarsfeld’s death and later renamed to honor him. Under directors Harold Watts, Jonathan Cole, and Harrison White, the Lazarsfeld Center expanded its interdisciplinary reach and established particular strengths in the sociology of science and network analysis.
The Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences was one of the centers incorporated into the Institute at its founding in 1999 as the Institute for Social and Economic Theory and Research (ISETR). Also joining ISETR were the Center for Urban Research and Policy, founded in 1992, and several new research centers. In January 2001, ISETR merged with the Office of Sponsored Research to become the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy.
[edit] Centers and Major Projects
The Institute contains fifteen research centers and major projects that conduct basic research, develop policy initiatives, and train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
Adolescent Health Project
The Adolescent Health Project focuses on exploring adolescent health behavior across a wide array of health outcomes, including the transition to first sex, the structure of sexual and romantic networks, STD diffusion dynamics, abuse in adolescent relationships, attachment to school, adolescent suicidality, and same-sex attraction. Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The project's methodological interests center on developing new approaches for measuring peer and relationship context and modeling temporal dynamics. Recent papers have focused on the effect of virginity pledges on the transition to first sex, the potential genetic foundations for same sex-attraction, and risk behaviors of middle-school youth.
American Institutions Project
The American Institutions Project's distinctive approach to political development focuses primarily on Congress, regional issues, the treasury, and the military. At its core is the effort to create a data-set organized by a multilayered coding scheme that arrays spending, statutes, and roll calls substantively for all of the country's history. The Project's goals include promoting more robust ties between the domestic and international studies of American politics, deepening the engagement between the "American political development" subfield and "mainstream" political studies, constructing strong ties between the disciplines of History and Political Science, and connecting empirical studies to political and social theory.
Center for the Decision Sciences (CDS)
The Center for the Decision Sciences brings together scholars from a wide range of fields with a common interest in human decision making. Decision Science lies at the intersection of several social and behavioral science disciplines, drawing on theory and methods from economics, psychology, political science and management, among other fields.
Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED)
CRED is an interdisciplinary center that studies individual and group decision making under climate uncertainty and decision making in the face of environmental risk. CRED's objectives address the human responses to climate change and climate variability as well as improved communication and increased use of scientific information on climate variability and change.
Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion (CDTR)
CDTR conducts research and training on the interfaces of and tensions between religion, toleration, and democracy in the world. It opened in July 2006, with initial funding from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Center for the Study of Wealth and Inequality (CWI)
CWI investigates the economic well-being of families in the United States and in other countries and explores the dimensions of societal inequality in household resources. The center's interests encompass issues of poverty, labor market behavior, public transfer programs, and tax policy insofar as each has a clear relevance to family welfare, living standards, and inequality.
Center for Urban Research and Policy (CURP)
The mission of the Center for Urban Research and Policy is to create a more informal national dialogue about the challenges and successes of America’s urban policies and programs; advance research and curriculum on pressing urban issues; prepare and train students to pay a greater role in improving cities; promote the participation of urban residents, particularly women and minorities, in policy determination at the local, state, and national levels; and provide public officials and community leaders with new tools for management and policy analysis.
Center on Organizational Innovation (COI)
COI promotes research on organizational innovation as well as new forms of collaboration, communication, and coordination made possible with the advent of interactive technologies.
Center on Political Economy and Comparative Institutional Analysis (COPECIA)
COPECIA is an interdisciplinary program of research bridging the fields of economics, political science, law, and business. COPECIA carries out research in the area of political economy and institutional analysis with a focus on the origin and evolution of political institutions and their impact on economic performance and policy outcomes.
Collective Dynamics Group (CDG)
CDG applies modern mathematical and computational techniques to problems relevant ot the social sciences. Current research areas include the structure and evolution of social networks, social and biological contagion, interpersonal influence, and social search and collective problem solving.
Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)
IPD helps developing countries explore policy alternatives and enables wider civic participation in economic policymaking. Led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, IPD brings together a global network of nearly 250 economists, political scientists, and practitioners from the North and South.
Paul F. Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences
The Lazarsfeld Center is the oldest of all the ISERP centers. It is a catalyst for new research through its sponsorship of workshops, seminars, and conferences.
Project on Expertise
The Project on Expertise deals most generally with the nature, types, social distribution, and modes of operation of expertise. More specifically, the program is currently engaged in a research project on how expertise is expressed in the “autism community,” a new bio-social identity composed of experts, activists, and parents.
Project on Immigration, Ethnicity, and Race (PIER)
PIER works on several interrelated projects focusing on Hispanic political participation in the United States.
Public Opinion Project (POP)
The Public Opinion Project (POP) examines trends in public opinion, public policy, and political leadership, primarily in the United States.
