Metrology for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

National Sciences Foundation Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences White Paper, 2011

Posted: 29 Jan 2011 Last revised: 8 Feb 2011

See all articles by William P. Fisher

William P. Fisher

University of California, Berkeley - BEAR Center

A. Jackson Stenner

MetaMetrics, Inc.

Date Written: January 27, 2011

Abstract

A metrological infrastructure for the social, behavioral, and economic sciences has foundational and transformative potentials relating to education, health care, human and natural resource management, organizational performance assessment, and the economy at large. The traceability of universally uniform metrics to reference standards is a taken-for-granted essential component of the infrastructure of the natural sciences and engineering. Advanced measurement methods and models capable of supporting similar metrics, standards, and traceability for intangible forms of capital have been available for decades but have yet to be implemented in ways that take full advantage of their capacities. The economy, education, health care reform, and the environment are all now top national priorities. There is nothing more essential to succeeding in these efforts than the quality of the measures we develop and deploy. Even so, few, if any, of these efforts are taking systematic advantage of longstanding, proven measurement technologies that may be crucial to the scientific and economic successes we seek. Bringing these technologies to the attention of the academic and business communities for use, further testing, and development in new directions is an area of critical national need.

Keywords: Metrology, Uniform Metrics, Reference Standards, Measurement, Science, Economics, Capital, Traceability

JEL Classification: C51, C52, C81, C82, D23, E10, E66, H54, 021, 033, 038, P11

Suggested Citation

Fisher, William P. and Stenner, A. Jackson, Metrology for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (January 27, 2011). National Sciences Foundation Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences White Paper, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1750222

William P. Fisher (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - BEAR Center ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94704
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.LivingCapitalMetrics.com

A. Jackson Stenner

MetaMetrics, Inc. ( email )

1000 Park Forty Plaza Drive
Suite 120
Durham, NC 27713
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.lexile.com

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
253
PlumX Metrics