Social Scientists: Making a Difference

One of the canons of writing that is often repeated is that if you write, you should write about something you know about. I will apply that belief to my comments today. I will talk about something that I know (at least a little) about. For the past twenty plus years I have been studying the linkage between science and public policy making. The science I am talking about is science as defined by the scientific method, which posits that we should follow such tenets as causation, empiricism, objectivity, and replication. The public policy I am talking about is the policies that are determined through our democratic process, highlighted by its construction by our governing bodies, implementation by our executives, and interpretation by our courts