The Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS) is an interdisciplinary academic department within the
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technolog ...
. The Department of Social and Decision Sciences is headquartered in Porter Hall in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania and is led by Department Head Gretchen Chapman. SDS has a world-class reputation for research and education programs in decision-making in
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...
,
economics,
management, and the behavioral
social sciences.
History
The Department of Social Sciences was established in 1976, as part of the
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences under Dean
John Patrick Crecine
John Patrick "Pat" Crecine (August 22, 1939 – April 28, 2008) was an American educator and economist who served as President of Georgia Tech, Dean at Carnegie Mellon University, business executive, and professor. After receiving his early ...
with approval from
Heinz College Dean Otto Davis, which previously housed the program. The department was staffed by political scientists, sociologists, and economists from within the Dietrich College, the Heinz College, and the
Tepper School of Business. In the 1980s, the department was led by Patrick D. Larkey and developed the undergraduate information systems program which became a huge success, eventually being spun off into an independent interdisciplinary program in the Dietrich College. In 1985,
Robyn Dawes
Robyn Mason Dawes (July 23, 1936 – December 14, 2010) was an American psychologist who specialized in the field of human judgment. His research interests included human irrationality, human cooperation, intuitive expertise, and the United States ...
joined the department and began to re-focus it into its current form and expertise in behavioral decision-making and caused it to be renamed as the Department of Social and Decision Sciences. Carnegie Mellon's Institute for
Politics and
Strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " ar ...
was spun off of the department in 2015.
Education
The department runs highly regarded undergraduate
Bachelor of Science programs in
Decision Science
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
and
Policy
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...
and
Management and a
Bachelor of Arts program in
Behavioral Economics, Policy, and Organizations as well as minors in Decision Science and Policy and Management. Further, SDS is a partner in various interdisciplinary undergraduate programs such as the
Sociology minor, Environmental Policy program, and the Quantitative Social Science Scholars program. At the
master's degree level, SDS partners with several other colleges and departments for the Engineering and Technology Innovation Management program. The graduate
PhD program allows doctoral students options in Social and Decision Sciences, Behavioral Decision Research (BDR) as well as a joint PhDs in Behavioral Decision Research and Psychology with the Department of Psychology,
Behavioral Marketing and Decision Research and
Behavioral Economics
Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the decisions of individuals or institutions, such as how those decisions vary from those implied by classical economic theory. ...
with the
Tepper School of Business, and a joint
MD-PhD Medical Scientist Training program with the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school of the University of Pittsburgh, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The School of Medicine, also known as Pitt Med, is consistently ranked as a "Top Medical School" by '' ...
. SDS also hosts an
executive education program in behavioral economics. All students are trained in
policy analysis and
research methods. SDS is also closely associated with its spin-off programs: the undergraduate
Information Systems program and the Institute for Politics and Strategy.
Research
The department's primary strength lies in interdisciplinary research, particularly in the intersection of politics and sociology with economics, psychology and human decision making.
Statistics,
microeconomics, rational
decision theory
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
and
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has applic ...
are among the many areas of specialization. SDS faculty are very involved in interdisciplinary research throughout the university, and are drawn from fields as diverse as
economics,
psychology,
sociology,
history,
management science, and
political science. SDS is affiliated with several labs and centers:
*Behavioral Economics and Decision Research Policy Lab
*Center for Behavioral and Decision Research
*Center for Risk Perception and Communication
*Data-Driven Diversity Lab
*Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory
As part of the Center for Behavioral Decision Research, SDS manages the Data Truck and managed the Carnegie Mellon Research Cafe. The Data Truck is a mobile behavioral science lab. The Research Cafe was a cafe located in
downtown Pittsburgh and was designed to perform behavioral research outside of the student population on the main Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh campus where the SDS labs are located. The cafe is now closed.
Rankings
In 2006, an
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences study gave four of five stars to the graduate program in prescriptive decision making and five stars in descriptive decision making. These two ratings tied the department for first place among decision science programs in the United States with
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jame ...
and the
University of Pennsylvania.
Faculty
SDS is home to some of the world's top faculty in the fields of
decision science
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
,
decision support systems
A decision support system (DSS) is an information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations and planning levels of an organization (usually mid and higher management) and ...
,
behavioral economics
Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors on the decisions of individuals or institutions, such as how those decisions vary from those implied by classical economic theory. ...
,
organizational behavior,
risk analysis,
management science, and complex social systems. Some notable faculty members (both current and past) include
Baruch Fischhoff
Baruch Fischhoff (born April 21, 1946, Detroit, Michigan) is an American academic who is the Howard Heinz University Professor in the Institute for Politics and Strategy and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon Univ ...
, Paul Fischbeck,
Robyn Dawes
Robyn Mason Dawes (July 23, 1936 – December 14, 2010) was an American psychologist who specialized in the field of human judgment. His research interests included human irrationality, human cooperation, intuitive expertise, and the United States ...
,
George Loewenstein,
Cleotilde Gonzalez,
Jennifer Lerner
Jennifer S. Lerner is an American experimental social psychologist known for her research in emotion and decision theory. She is the first psychologist at the Harvard Kennedy School to receive tenure. At Harvard, her titles include Professor of P ...
,
Kathleen Carley,
David Krackhardt David Krackhardt is Professor of Organizations at Heinz College and the Tepper School of Business, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences) and the Machine Lea ...
,
Steven Klepper,
Linda C. Babcock, Lee Branstetter,
David A. Hounshell, William Keech, John H. Miller, Mark Kamlet, Roberto Weber,
Herbert A. Simon,
Jendayi Frazer,
Kiron Skinner
Kiron Kanina Skinner (born 1961) is a former Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State in the Trump administration. Skinner is presently the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at the Pepperdine Unive ...
,
Sara Kiesler
Sara Beth (Greene) Kiesler is the Hillman Professor Emerita of Computer Science and Human Computer Interaction in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. She is also a program director in the Directorate for Soci ...
,
John Patrick Crecine
John Patrick "Pat" Crecine (August 22, 1939 – April 28, 2008) was an American educator and economist who served as President of Georgia Tech, Dean at Carnegie Mellon University, business executive, and professor. After receiving his early ...
,
Cristina Bicchieri,
Joseph Born Kadane,
Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Patrick D. Larkey, and Otto Davis. The current faculty consists of 20 full-time members with additional associated and adjunct faculty, staff, and fellows.
In addition the department works closely with the departments of
Engineering and Public Policy
Engineering and Public Policy, informally known as EPP, is an interdisciplinary academic department within the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering. EPP combines technical analysis with social science and policy analysis, in order to address pr ...
, Psychology, History, and Statistics and Data Science, as well as the
Tepper School of Business,
Heinz College, and the undergraduate Information Systems program. Many SDS faculty have joint appointments in these departments.
References
External links
*
Undergraduate programs and courses
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Schools and departments of Carnegie Mellon
Economics schools
Educational institutions established in 1976
Decision theory
1976 establishments in Pennsylvania