Institute for Social Science Research

The Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) promotes excellence in social science research across UMass Amherst and beyond. ISSR supports the methods and training needs of faculty and their graduate students, provides information and support on grant opportunities, and facilitates social scientists' interdisciplinary collaboration (including collaborations with natural scientists and engineers). 

Visit the Institute for Social Science Research website.

Strengthening Research Skills and Resources

One of the goals of ISSR is to strengthen the research skills of social scientists across UMass Amherst. ISSR provides a number of methodology trainings including workshops and courses throughout the year. These trainings, many of which are available online, help faculty and graduate students gain the skills they need to be better researchers.

ISSR also offers methodology consulting services and short workshops on quantitative and qualitative methods. These services are free for students, faculty, and other members of the UMass Amherst research community. Private, fee-based consultations are available to nonprofit organizations and research-intensive companies. These services can be written into faculty grant proposals and are particularly appropriate for enhancing faculty grants. 

Learn more about research training, consulting, and resources.

Securing Research Funding

Social scientists at UMass Amherst have raised millions of dollars in research funding across disciplinary boundaries, creating new and innovative knowledge and research centers in the process. ISSR helps researchers identify funding opportunities through our database and through grants supported by the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and the University.

The Funding Thursdays series provides free grant-writing workshops, write-shops, and resources for researchers working on funding projects. Additionally, the competitive ISSR Scholars Program supports social science faculty from across the University via a seminar and mentorship program.

Learn more about securing research funding. 

Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Social science spans the human experience and thrives through interdisciplinary collaboration. ISSR seminars, workshops, and methodology services build a robust community for debate and mutual learning on new frontiers in research and spark innovation across disciplinary boundaries. You can explore these SBS faculty research seminars for regular meetings with scholars who share your research interests.

Learn more about interdisciplinary collaboration.

Research Ethics, Security Training, and Compliance

All social science research should be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). IRB approval must be sought in advance for any social science data collected from people, regardless of whether the research is funded or not and what type of review (expedited, exempt or full) it falls under. Begin the IRB review process here.

As greater numbers of our faculty have begun collaborating with others, often across disciplines, the experience has been both exciting and rewarding.  But it’s especially important that collaborators engage in clear and ongoing channels of communication around division of labor, co-authorship, and research mentorship practices throughout the course of the partnership. When miscommunications or problems arise, the lundquist [at] soc [dot] umass [dot] edu (Senior Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development) will work with the collaborators and the Office of Compliance to help resolve disputes and manage conflict. 

In response to federal requirements, all Principal Investigators, Co-Principal Investigators, Key Personnel, and other individuals named in proposals must complete annual research security training in order to get IRB approval and to submit a grant. To make sure you are up to date on your training and disclosure requirements, please consult this Research Compliance Training Matrix. 

A Conflict of Interest (COI) exists when it can be reasonably determined that an investigator's personal financial concerns could directly and significantly influence the design, conduct, or reporting of government funded research activities. Another type of COI may have to do with outside activities that are be related to an individual’s institutional duties, such as editorship service, consulting, board service, royalties, and other paid activities. These activities and the associated financial interests should be disclosed, reviewed, and approved by the university. Researchers should disclose their financial COIs and outside activities through Kuali COI.

Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, reporting, or reviewing research. It does not include honest errors in the recording, selection, or analysis of data or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data. See the university's Procedures for Dealing with Charges of Misconduct in Research and Scholarly Activity.

Learn more about research compliance.

Promoting Research Visibility and Engagement

Through collaborations with the Public Engagement Project (PEP), scholars build the skills and confidence they need to promote their work to broader audiences.

When faculty have news (a talk, press coverage, a new article, etc), let the infosbs [at] umass [dot] edu (SBS Communications Team) know so that we can publish it in the weekly SBS newsletter.

In cases where faculty have a few months before an article or book is forthcoming that is likely to be of strong interest to the general public, faculty should contact akupec [at] umass [dot] edu (Aaron Kupec) in University Relations about a press release for circulation. 

ISSR is a member of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). This organization is an advocate for the social science research community, educating policy makers on the need for federal funding for research in the social and behavioral sciences.