An Assessment of Arctic Social Sciences

在过去的一年里，已经形成了一种共识，即国家需要更多和更好的关于北极主题的社会科学研究。例如，《美国北极研究计划》(1987)指出，“很明显，如果没有社会科学项目，美国北极研究政策的目标就无法实现”。同样，国家科学委员会关于国家科学基金会在极地地区的作用的报告也指出，“行为科学和社会科学是基础研究(北极课题)不足的明显例子。”几乎没有人致力于制定实施这一共识的战略，也没有一个联邦机构拥有明确的授权，支持社会科学和行为科学关于北极主题的研究。为解决这些问题，在国家科学院极地研究委员会内设立了一个北极社会科学特设委员会。委员会建议确定北极社会科学中的主要研究问题，建议优先事项，以指导该领域未来研究的方向，并指出有意义的研究方案所需的设施和支持。该委员会将主要社会科学学科的杰出代表聚集在一起，审查可供选择的方案，以制定一项战略，以满足国家对北极专题社会科学研究的需求。最终成果将是一项同行评议的、以行动为导向的研究，它将确定北极社会科学的一流问题，并为解决这些问题提供机制。委员会的报告还将强调北极社会科学研究与目前侧重于生物和物理科学的新的大规模全球系统计划之间的联系。参与北极研究的主要联邦和州机构将分享资金，可能包括国防部、能源部、史密森学会、商务部、阿拉斯加州和北坡行政区。

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.