SOCGEN: Combining Social Science and Molecular Genetic Research to Examine Inequality and the Life Course

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Although there has been an explosion in the amount of the data in the UK that contains information that has both social science indicators (e.g., education, social status) and molecular genetic data (data with genetic markers), it has yet to be exploited by social scientists. Knowledge from social scientists about how to properly use this data to answer social science research questions and statistical tools to accommodate social science problems remains underdeveloped. Yet this new data will allow social scientists to examine fundamentally new research questions and has the potential for substantive breakthroughs. For the first time in history social scientists can uncover whether there is a genetic and biological component to many of the behaviours that have until now only largely been attributed to social factors. Increasing studies demonstrate that there is a genetic component to core social science topics such as educational level and wellbeing. There are, however, many pitfalls to conducting this type of research including lack of accessible learning and teaching material aimed at social scientists and appropriate statistical models or robustness checks of existing models. A primary objective of this project is to bring together substantive social science researchers in the field of inequality and the life course with expertise in statistics, biodemography, and quantitative molecular genetics to develop innovative learning resources, statistical models and packages to address the specific shortcomings in this substantive area of research. Developing accessible teaching resources and tailored statistical models and packages will allow UK social scientists to become trendsetting pioneers in answering new biosocial research questions. This will allow us to convey how insights from molecular genetic data and research can be integrated into life course (and social science) research.