From the Consortium of Social Science Associations series, "Why Social Science?"

Because Reimagining Science Requires Behavioral and Social Scientists at the Table, Too

July 31, 2025

by Sam Goldstein, Science for Good

"Nearly 40% of deaths in the United States are preventable through changes in behavior. Modifiable risk factors like smoking, poor diet, inactivity, or alcohol use are contributors to many cancers. For children and teens ages 1 to 17, the leading cause of death is not disease…it’s gun violence. These are not problems with strictly biomedical solutions. They are deeply embedded in how people live, what they believe, and the environments they navigate every day. This is where behavioral and social science research (BSSR) provides answers. BSSR can examine individual characteristics and the broader contexts that shape health, or our “social determinants of health,” which either promote good health or exacerbate health disparities. Despite its enormous potential to improve lives, BSSR receives only a fraction of the funding and recognition given to biomedical research. In some cases, the use of terminology or phrases related to research on health disparities in a grant proposal have resulted in unfair termination of funding. If we want to understand not only today’s most pressing public health crises, but also the political moment science now finds itself in, we need scientists who ask the why’s and the how’s."

Read the complete post online.