Faculty Teaching and Research Interests

In general, the faculty in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies have teaching and research interests in the following areas:

Economic Growth: Professor Radzicki
The empirical and theoretical study of how economic systems grow and develop over time. Particular attention is paid to the role of technology and innovation in the growth process and to how the growth process interacts with the environment.
Environmental & Energy Policy: Professors Doyle, Heaton, Lyneis, Radzicki, Rissmiller, and Wilkes
The substance, politics, psychology, and social implications of environmental and energy policy, including the micro and macro economics of natural resource and energy use, and pollution generation and abatement.
Fiscal & Monetary Policy: Professors O'Connor and Radzicki
The empirical and theoretical study of the ways in which government units can influence economic activity through changes in taxation, spending, interest rates, and the money supply.
Global Trade Relations: Professor Saeed
Implications for free international trade conducted in a global economy with a dualist structure.
Judgment and Decisionmaking: Professors Doyle
The study of human cognition and learning. Particular attention is paid to the social-psychological aspects of public environmental policy design. Psychological experimentation and use of system dynamics modeling in studies of judgment competence, stakeholder interactions and threshold setting for decisionmaking.
Learning: Professor Wilkes
Cognitive styles and learning styles research as it affects response to different curricula and educational environments.
Medical Economics and Health Care Policy: Professor O'Connor
The empirical and theoretical study of the economics of health care delivery systems in both the United States and abroad. Particular attention is paid to the economic role of emerging medical technologies.
Organizational Development: Professor Saeed
Exploration of organizational design for maintaining professional competence in innovation organizations.
Project Organizations and their Performance: Professor Lyneis
Study of the dynamics of projects and project organizations, including causes of overruns on schedule and budget, workload cycles, and how to improve performance.
Regulatory Policy and Law: Professor Rissmiller
The empirical and theoretical study of the ways in which industries are regulated, and how the government uses price controls, taxes, subsidies, antitrust laws, and other regulatory policies to alter their behaviors in socially desirable ways.
Science & Technology Policy: Professors Heaton, Rissmiller, and Wilkes
The study of the nature of science and the process of innovation, the ways in which individuals and groups of scientists "do" science, the ways in which science and technology policy is formed and implemented, and the social implications of science and technology policymaking.
Sustainable Development: Professors Saeed and Radzicki
Economic, organizational and political aspects of sustainable development; policy design for sustainable development covering economic, political and organizational domains.

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Last modified: October 10, 2007 16:00:11