Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS)

Overview

The Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) Program is a standing, interdisciplinary program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). MMS supports the development of innovative analytical and statistical methods and models for those sciences. The Program interacts with the other programs in SBE as well as other programs in the Foundation. The Program also partners with a consortium of federal statistical agencies to support research proposals that further the production and use of official statistics.

The MMS Program seeks proposals that are methodologically innovative, grounded in theory, and have potential utility for multiple fields within the social, behavioral, and economic sciences.

Successful proposals often integrate across the following areas:

• The development, application, and extension of formal models and methodology for social, behavioral, and economic research, including methods for improving measurement. The proposed research must show promise for having value for multiple fields in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences.
• The development of formal models that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, including research on statistical methodology or statistical modeling. The proposed research must show promise for having value for multiple social and behavioral science fields.
• Research on methodological aspects of new or existing procedures for data collection, including:

1. methodological advances for survey research;
2. research to evaluate or compare existing databases and data collection procedures; and
3. research on methodological issues related to the use and analysis of new sources of data for the social, behavioral, and economic sciences.

• Infrastructure projects that facilitate the research activities of the MMS community.

The MMS Program provides support through a number of different types of proposals including:

• Regular Research Awards
• Awards for conferences and community-development activities
• Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) Grants
• Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Supplements

MMS also supports Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards. Please see the CAREER Program Web Site for more information about this activity.

Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Awards: DDRI proposals must be submitted with a principal investigator (PI) and a coprincipal investigator (co-PI). The PI must be the advisor of the doctoral student or another faculty member at the U.S. institution where the doctoral student is enrolled. The co-PI must be the doctoral student whose dissertation research will be supported.

Estimated Number of Awards: 15 to 35
Approximately $3.76 million will be awarded annually, contingent upon the availability of funds. Additional funds may be available from participating federal statistical agencies for competitive research proposals of interest to those agencies. Project budgets should be developed at scales appropriate for the work to be conducted.