Academic Funding

David Brooks on “The Unexamined Society”

July 12, 2011 1409

In a recent Opinion piece for the New York Times, columnist David Brooks argued for the value of behavioral studies and critiqued a bill working through Congress that would eliminate the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.

As an example of the value of behavioral research, Brooks discussed a new book pending from Princeton professor Eldar Shafir and Harvard professor Sendhil Mullainathan. Brooks describes the book as an exploration of “how scarcity — whether of time, money or calories (while dieting) — affects your psychology. They are also studying how poor people’s self-perceptions shape behavior. Many people don’t sign up for the welfare benefits because they are intimidated by the forms.”

Click here to read David Brooks’ column in its entirety.

Editorial Assistant - Social Science Journals at SAGE in Los Angeles

View all posts by Lisa Hanson

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