A Cross Field Analysis of Embedded Social Science Research

This project involves interviewing researchers and research administrators who have worked with embedded ethicists and social scientists in the fields of genomics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence to understand their perspectives on the value of such integration efforts. The project provides a comprehensive view of how interdisciplinary collaborations in three rapidly advancing research fields function in practice. Projects findings contribute to the development of evidence-based best practices for integrating ethical and social science expertise into scientific research. The project also informs the training of the next generation of researchers in responsible scientific practices. The project employs qualitative research methods to investigate the experiences that researchers have working with embedded ethicists and social scientists. The project team will conduct semi-structured interviews with researchers and research administrators across three domains: genomics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. The primary goal is to develop a comprehensive, multiperspectival analysis examining the motivations, experiences, and evolving understandings of responsibility that researchers have. The project will identify epistemological, organizational, and other factors that shape interdisciplinary scientific collaborations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.