Social Science for the Public Good: How to Conduct Collaborative Research to Improve Policy and Politics

Although the goal of most social science research is to benefit society, academia does not always train students in the ‘nuts and bolts’ mechanics of applying rigorous social science methods to solve practical policy problems. In this course, we focus on how to do  policy-focused research that answers questions of both theoretical and substantive importance, with an emphasis on work that involves direct collaboration with an organization, agency, or firm. Examples of the topics we will discuss include: finding an implementation partner and negotiating a relationship, managing data use agreements and working with messy data, designing and implementing a field experiment, ethics and equity in collaborative research, and disseminating results to partners, academics, policymakers, and the general public. Students will be expected to take a hands-on approach to learning, by working through a series of assignments aimed at developing their own collaborative project on a topic of interest. This course is designed for PhD students (and MPPs/MPAs interested in pursuing PhDs) who have an interest in conducting collaborative research for the public good, both within and outside academia.