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The research is useful in the sense that actually understanding the issues being investigated would be valuable. The question is, would the funded research actu

The research is useful in the sense that actually understanding the issues being investigated would be valuable. The question is, would the funded research actually deliver a better understanding of those issues? Given the state of the social sciences, I don't think that it would.

some_random 2y ago
Yeah this is an under discussed aspect of the grant issues, it's important to decide whether or not to fund something, but just as if not more important is to make sure that the funding is used in a way that actually delivers the promised effect.
- philwelch 2y ago
  I also don't think the Pentagon has the expertise necessary to tell good social science from bad.
  - relaxing 2y ago
    The DoD employs experts from many different fields. Wars aren’t just won on the battlefront. PSYOPS is an obvious example of applied social science, but it extends far beyond that.
ethbr1 2y ago
> Given the state of the social sciences, I don't think that it would. Why not? That's a really broad brush.
- philwelch 2y ago
  Google “replication crisis” just for starters.
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    Some fields are inherently harder to replicate though -- economics, psychology, etc. The fact that we (somewhat) do it with biology is amazing. That doesn't mean we should avoid spending money in hard to replicate fields, or that we should require impossible to satisfy bars for funding. Some of the most interesting results in these fields come with further questions attached.
    - philwelch 2y ago
      The question isn’t whether the social sciences should exist as an academic field, the question is if they deliver reliable enough results to be a cost effective use of the defense budget.
      - ethbr1 2y ago
        Indeed, but replication crisis isn't that argument, given that's a field-as-whole issue rather than the cost effectiveness of a specific study.
        philwelch 2y ago
        I'm still talking about the field as a whole; I'm just saying "should the field exist" is a different question than "does the field generate good enough results for the Defense Department to rely on". See also my other comment, "I also don't think the Pentagon has the expertise necessary to tell good social science from bad."
        ethbr1 2y ago
        If anything, I'd expect the Pentagon might have better expertise, given how distinct its intellectual zeitgeist is from social science academia.

some_random 2y ago

Yeah this is an under discussed aspect of the grant issues, it's important to decide whether or not to fund something, but just as if not more important is to make sure that the funding is used in a way that actually delivers the promised effect.

philwelch 2y ago
I also don't think the Pentagon has the expertise necessary to tell good social science from bad.
- relaxing 2y ago
  The DoD employs experts from many different fields. Wars aren’t just won on the battlefront. PSYOPS is an obvious example of applied social science, but it extends far beyond that.

ethbr1 2y ago

> Given the state of the social sciences, I don't think that it would. Why not? That's a really broad brush.

philwelch 2y ago
Google “replication crisis” just for starters.
- ethbr1 2y ago
  Some fields are inherently harder to replicate though -- economics, psychology, etc. The fact that we (somewhat) do it with biology is amazing. That doesn't mean we should avoid spending money in hard to replicate fields, or that we should require impossible to satisfy bars for funding. Some of the most interesting results in these fields come with further questions attached.
  - philwelch 2y ago
    The question isn’t whether the social sciences should exist as an academic field, the question is if they deliver reliable enough results to be a cost effective use of the defense budget.
    - ethbr1 2y ago
      Indeed, but replication crisis isn't that argument, given that's a field-as-whole issue rather than the cost effectiveness of a specific study.
      - philwelch 2y ago
        I'm still talking about the field as a whole; I'm just saying "should the field exist" is a different question than "does the field generate good enough results for the Defense Department to rely on". See also my other comment, "I also don't think the Pentagon has the expertise necessary to tell good social science from bad."
        ethbr1 2y ago
        If anything, I'd expect the Pentagon might have better expertise, given how distinct its intellectual zeitgeist is from social science academia.