Page 13 - The Importance of Common Metrics for Advacing Social Science Theory and Research

The Importance of Common Metrics for Advancing Social Science Theory and Research: A Workshop Summary
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13034.html

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Introduction

On February 25-26, 2010, a group of behavioral and social scientists
met to explore the feasibility of developing well-grounded common met-
rics to advance behavioral and social science research. With support from
the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Committee on Advancing
Social Science Theory: The Importance of Common Metrics planned and
organized the event to gather information and examine the issues involved.
The idea for the resulting workshop was suggested by Marshall S. Smith
when he was at the Hewlett Foundation. He posed the thesis that one
reason the social sciences have greater difficulty, relative to other sciences,
in advancing theory is because they have less commonality among their
metrics.

WORKSHOP GOALS AND ISSUES

The Workshop on Advancing Social Science Theory: The Importance
of Common Metrics had three goals:

1. To examine the benefits and costs involved in moving from metric
diversity to greater standardization, both in terms of advancing
the development of theory and increasing the utility of research for
policy and practice.
2. To consider whether a set of criteria can be developed for under-
standing when the measurement of a particular construct is ready
to be standardized.
3. To explore how the research community can foster a move toward
standardization when it appears warranted.

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