Science. 2012 Sep 21;337(6101):1452-3.
Political science in peril.
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment, proposed by Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), that would allow Congress to intervene in the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) merit review process (1). Flake's amendment would prevent NSF scientists from evaluating and supporting scientific studies of politics and government. This is a bad idea.
The program targeted by Flake supports research performed by scientists with a range of backgrounds, including statistics, applied mathematics, the neurosciences, economics, genetics, and psychology. The political science program has supported five Nobel laureates and has produced thousands of controlled experiments, precise definitions, accurate measurements, computer models, and other means of clarifying causes of what has happened in the past and the effects of organizational decisions on people's lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment