Volume 36 (2017)
NSFâs Statistical Division Seeks Director
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting applications for the position of Division Director of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), NSFâs principal statistical agency housed within the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). The NCSES Division Director âassesses needs and trends involving the national surveys, implements overall strategic planning and policy setting for the Division, provides leadership and guidance to Division staff members, determines funding requirements, prepares and justifies budget estimates, balances program needs, allocates resources, oversees the evaluation of proposals and recommendations for awards and declinations, and represents NSF to relevant external groups.â More…
GAO Report on Firearm Storage Highlights Lack of Federal Funding for Gun Research
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report entitled Personal Firearms: Programs that Promote Safe Storage and Research on Their Effectiveness that compiles information on public and non-profit programs promoting safe storage of personal firearms and the results of research on the effectiveness of such programs. The report was produced at the request of 19 Democratic senators, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). The report finds that âthere is relatively little research on safe firearm storage,â and that âlack of funding and dataâ is often cited as…
CNSTAT Issues Report on Federal Statistics, Multiple Data Sources, and Privacy Protection
The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently issued a consensus report entitled Federal Statistics, Multiple Data Sources, and Privacy Protection: Next Steps. The report was produced by the Panel on Improving Federal Statistics for Policy and Social Science Research Using Multiple Data Sources and State-of-the-Art Estimation Methods, chaired by Robert Groves of Georgetown University. The Panelâs first report, Innovations in Federal Statistics: Combining Data Sources While Protecting Privacy, was published in January 2017, and described some of the challenges currently facing the federal statistical systemâs current paradigm of heavy reliance on…
NDD United Highlights Impacts of Budget Cuts in Faces of Austerity 2.0 Report
On October 25, NDD United, a broad coalition of stakeholders interested in protecting non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs from budget cuts (including COSSA), held a congressional briefing to celebrate the launch of its latest report, Faces of Austerity 2.0: How Budget Cuts Continue to Make Us Sicker, Poorer, and Less Secure. The report explores how sequestration and the Budget Control Act put programs that millions of Americans rely on at risk. NDD United is calling upon Congress to stop NDD funding cuts by treating defense and nondefense programs equally, maintaining the precedent set in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. NDD…
John Holdren Wins 2018 Moynihan Prize
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS), a COSSA Member, announced former White House Science Advisor John Holdren as the winner of the 2018 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize. Holdren is a trained plasma physicist who served as President Obamaâs Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and is currently the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The Moynihan Prize was established in 2007 to ârecognize social scientists, public officials, and civic leaders who champion the use of informed judgement…
SRCD Accepting Application for Federal, State Policy Fellowships
The Society for Research and Child Development (SRCD), a COSSA governing member, is accepting applications for its Federal and State Policy Fellowships for the 2018-2019 academic year. SRCD sponsors both Congressional and Executive Branch Fellowships through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program. Applications for the federal fellowships are due by December 15, 2017. SRCD also offers two state policy fellowships: a Post-Doctoral State Policy Fellowship in Early Childhood and a Pre-Doctoral State Policy Fellowship in Early Learning. Letters of intent for the state fellowships are due December 22, 2017. Back to…
Events Calendar
Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences Annual Meeting, November 1-4, 2017, Denver, CO Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Fall Research Conference, November 2-4, 2017, Chicago, IL Social Science History Association Annual Meeting, November 2-5, Montreal, Canada Evaluation 2017 (American Evaluation Association), November 6-11, 2017, Washington, DC North American Regional Science Council Annual Meeting, November 8-12, 2017, Vancouver, Canada History of Science Society Annual Meeting, November 9-12, Toronto, Canada American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia, PA National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, November 15-18, 2017, Oralndo, FL National Communication Association Annual Convention, November…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 36 Issue 20
Featured News COSSA, SAGE Host Why Social Science? Congressional Briefing COSSA in Action COSSA Praises Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking Report SAGE Answers âWhy Social Science?â Congressional News Senate Continues Working as To-Do List and Uncertainty Grows Federal Agency & Administration News HHS May Delay Common Rule Implementation NIH Provides Guidance on New Human Subjects, Clinical Trials Form Publications & Community Events National Academies Releases Interactive Guide on Opioid Epidemic COSSA Member Spotlight COSSA Welcomes the University of Pittsburgh Events Calendar
COSSA Praises Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking Report
On October 11, COSSA issued a statement on the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymakingâs final report, released in September (see COSSAâs summary of the reportâs recommendations). The statement reads: âCOSSA applauds the work of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and commends its open, thorough process in producing its final report, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking. The report represents the beginning of what we hope will be an ongoing, nonpartisan discussion on how the federal government can incentivize decision-making based on sound science while ensuring the careful stewardship of confidential information. The Commissionâs recommendations demonstrate that expanding the use of evidence and…
Senate Continues Working as To-Do List and Uncertainty Grows
The Senate hopes to pass a budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2018 this week while Congressâ to-do list and uncertainty surrounding the FY 2018 spending bills continues to grow. With only 37 working days for the Senate and 28 working days for the House left in the year, Congress hopes to pass a budget resolution, overhaul the tax code, create a plan to fund the government after December 8, and strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling. The House narrowly passed a budget resolution in early October that proposed major cuts to entitlement programs and non-defense discretionary programs,…
HHS May Delay Common Rule Implementation
On October 7, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs issued a notice that it is reviewing a rule that would delay the implementation date for most of the changes to the Common Rule, the set of regulations governing research involving human participants, by one year, pushing the effective date for the changes from January 2018 to January 2019 (see COSSAâs analysis of the changes, which were announced in January of this year). The delay would still allow âthe use of three burden-reducing provisions during the delay year,â but there is little clarity on what those provisions are…
NIH Provides Guidance on New Human Subjects, Clinical Trials Form
As previously reported, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been working for the last few years to enhance its stewardship of and increase transparency over the clinical trials it funds. COSSA described the planned changes and their impact on the social science research community in a Hot Topic piece earlier this month. All social and behavioral science researchers who have received NIH funding in the past, or who are looking to apply in the future, are strongly encouraged to review this information as your research may now fall under NIHâs revised definition of a âclinical trial.â NIH released a…
National Academies Releases Interactive Guide on Opioid Epidemic
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has produced an interactive guide to research on the opioid epidemic that highlights the findings of its recent report, Confronting Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic. The guide breaks down trends in prescription opioid use and misuse, overdose deaths from prescription and illicit opioids, heroin use, and heroin addiction and overdose deaths. It also outlines the reportâs recommendations related to strategies for addressing the opioid epidemic, the illicit market, opioid approval and monitoring by the Food and Drug Administration, and research needs. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
COSSA Welcomes the University of Pittsburgh
COSSA is pleased to welcome the University of Pittsburgh as its newest university member. The University of Pittsburgh ranks 25th in the nation in federal funding of R&D in the social and behavioral sciences and is one of largest recipients of federally sponsored R&D overall. COSSAâs full membership list is available here. Information on how to join can be found on the COSSA website. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Events Calendar
14th Annual AERA Brown Lecture in Education Research With Alfredo J. Artiles, October 19, 2017, Washington, DC The Lunch @ DC:Â How Evidence Can Transform the Fight Against Poverty, October 19, 2017, Washington, DC Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, October 19-22, 2017, Dallas, TX American Psychosomatic Society Mid-Year Meeting: Emotions in Social Relationships: Implications for Health and Disease, October 20-21, 2017, Berkeley, CA Fall 2017 Henry and Bryna David Lecture â Child Support in the Age of Complex Families: Itâs Critical, but itâs Broken, October 26, 2017, Washington, DC Making Sure Kids Count in the Big Count: Census…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 36 Issue 19
Featured News HOT TOPIC: New NIH âClinical Trialsâ Definition to Impact Basic Social and Behavioral Science Research COSSA in Action Tomorrow: Social Science Solutions for Health, Public Safety, Computing, and Other National Priorities Research!America Answers âWhy Social Science?â Federal Agency & Administration News GAO Recommends Changes to NSF Indirect Cost Guidance HHS Requests Comments on Draft Strategic Plan NSF Releases Video on Social Science Researchâs Importance to Disaster Preparedness NSF Releases Dear Colleague Letters on Research Methodologies for STEM Education and Broadening Participation in Science NSF Extends Application Deadline for Director of Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Position Publications…
HOT TOPIC: New NIH âClinical Trialsâ Definition to Impact Basic Social and Behavioral Science Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been working for the last few years to enhance its stewardship of and increase transparency over the clinical trials it funds. The agency, which is the largest funder of clinical trials in the U.S., issued a Notice of Revised NIH Definition of âClinical Trialâ (NOT-OD-15-015) in late 2014 laying out a new, expanded definition to govern which research projects are to be categorized as a âclinical trialâ from here on out. While this change has been in process for the last few years, it wasnât until more recently that the biomedical and behavioral…