An Assessment of Arctic Social Sciences

在过去的一年里，人们形成了一种共识，即有一个国家 需要对北极专题进行更多更好的社会科学研究。 例如，美国北极研究计划（1987年）指出， “很明显，美国北极的目标 研究政策不能满足没有一个计划，在社会 科学”。 同样，国家科学委员会的报告 NSF在极地地区的作用委员会指出， “行为科学和社会科学是 基础研究（北极主题）是不够的。“那里 很少有人考虑制定一项战略， 也没有一个联邦机构 明确的任务是支持社会和 北极行为科学的研究 北极问题特设委员会 社会科学已在极地研究委员会内设立 美国国家科学院致力于解决这些问题。 的 委员会建议确定主要研究问题， 北极社会科学，建议优先指导方向 未来的研究在这一领域，并指出设施和 一个有意义的研究项目所需的支持。 该委员会汇集了来自世界各地的杰出代表， 主要的社会科学学科，以审查现有的选择， 制定满足国家社会科学需求的战略 北极专题研究。 最终产品将是一个同行评审， 以行动为导向的研究，将确定第一阶北极社会 科学问题，这将提出一种机制， 溶液 委员会的报告还将强调以下方面的联系： 北极社会科学研究和新的大规模全球系统 目前主要集中在生物和物理方面的项目 以理工科为重 资金将由主要的联邦和 参与北极研究的国家机构， 包括国防部、内政部、史密森学会、商务部 阿拉斯加州和北坡自治市。

Over the last year, a consensus has formed that there is a national need for more and better social science research on Arctic topics. The United States Arctic Research Plan (1987), for example, states that "it has become evident that the objectives of U.S. Arctic research policy cannot be met without a program in the social sciences". Similarly, the report of the National Science Board Committee on the Role of NSF in Polar Regions, states that "behavioral and social sciences are obvious examples of fields in which basic research (on Arctic topics) is not sufficient." There has been little thought devoted to devising a strategy for implementing this consensus nor does there exist a Federal agency with a clear-cut mandate to support research in the social and behavioral sciences on Arctic topics. An ad hoc Committee on Arctic Social Sciences has been established within the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to address these problems. The Committee proposes to identify the principal research questions in Arctic social sciences, recommend priorities to guide the direction of future research in this field, and indicate the facilities and support required for a meaningful research program. This Committee brings together prominent representatives of the major social science disciplines to examine the options available to formulate a strategy to fulfill the national need for social science research on Arctic topics. The end product will be a peer-reviewed, action-oriented study that would identify first-order Arctic social science problems and that would suggest a mechanism for their solution. The Committee report will also highlight links between Arctic social science research and new large-scale global systems programs that are currently focused on the biological and physical sciences. Funding is to be shared by the principal federal and state agencies involved in the Arctic research and potentially include DOD, DOI, Smithsonian Institution, Department of Commerce, State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough.