This volume explores the scientific frontiers and leading edges of research across the fields of anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, history, business, education, geography, law, and psychiatry, as well as the newer, more specialized areas of artificial intelligence, child development, cognitive science, communications, demography, linguistics, and management and decision science. It includes recommendations concerning new resources, facilities, and programs that may be needed over the next several years to ensure rapid progress and provide a high level of returns to basic research.

Contents

• Committee on Basic Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences
• [Dedication]
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Behavior, Mind, and Brain
  • Seeing and Hearing
  • Memory
  • Cognition and Action
  • Language
  • Opportunities and Needs
• 2. Motivational and Social Contexts Behavior
  • Affect and Motivation
  • Behavior and Health
  • Crime and Violence
  • Attributions and Expectancies in Social Interaction
  • Opportunities and Needs
• 3. Choice and Allocation
  • Collective Choice and Organizational Behavior
  • Organizational Design and Change
  • Markets and Economic Systems
  • Contracts
  • Jobs, Wages, and Careers
  • Opportunities and Needs
• 4. Institutions and Cultures
  • The Evolution of Human Society
  • Demographic Behavior
  • Modernization: Family and Religion
  • Science, Technology, and Public Policy
  • Internationalization
  • International Conflict
  • Opportunities and Needs
• 5. Methods of Data Collection, Representation, and Analysis
  • Designs for Data Collection
  • Models for Representing Phenomena
  • Statistical Inference and Analysis
  • Opportunities and Needs
• 6. The Research Support System
  • Human Resources
  • Technological Resources
  • Data Resources
  • Funding Resources
  • The Problem of Voice
• 7. Raising the Scientific Yield
  • Research Frontiers
  • Recommended New Resources
  • Conclusion
• Appendix A. Trends in Support for Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences
• Appendix B. Working Group Members

Suggested citation:

National Research Council 1988. The Behavioral and Social Sciences: Achievements and Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/992.

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Photograph credits: (pages 6 and 238) © Kenneth Garrett/Woodfin Camp; (page 48 and 238) © Rick Brady 1985/Uniphoto; (page 52) courtesy of Dr. Paul Ekman; (pages 84 and 238) © Bob Daemmrich/Uniphoto; (pages 128 and 238) Tildon Easton Pottery Kiln, courtesy of Alexandria Archaeology, City of Alexandria, Virginia; (pages 166 and 238) © Kenneth Garrett 1982/Woodfin Camp; (pages 202 and 238) courtesy of Reed College.

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