Social Science in Action

Communicating science effectively to the public, understanding vaccine hesitancy, and addressing teen mental health problems had all been the subject of robust social science research before 2020. But when the novel coronavirus began upending life around the world, decisionmakers needed practical guidance on how to respond to these and other newly urgent challenges. In the earliest months of the pandemic, the mechanisms for delivering?necessary expert advice did not exist.

So the The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine formed a network of social scientists who could respond quickly to questions from policymakers. “This structure would foster the integration of evidence, research, and advice in real time,” write Robert Groves , Mary Bassett , Emily Backes , and Malvern Tatenda Chiweshe , who were all involved with setting up the new network, called the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN).

SEAN’s effort to provide timely guidance during a national emergency became “a truly engaged conversation driven by decisionmakers and experts together”—with lessons for other initiatives that seek to connect policymakers with relevant insights from social science research.

Read more about forging stronger, more adaptive, and long-standing connections between social scientists and decisionmakers.