Social Science Research on Population: A Review

Abstract

When any social program appears not to 'succeed,' the call goes out for 'more research.' In the population field, social research oriented to policy considerations has sharply increased in recent years yet is still 'inadequate' by such standards. In expanding the body of knowledge, there are constraints in available resources, issues of efficient allocation, and questions of effective application to policy options in determining a research agenda. This paper attempts to describe and analyze the current situation, as contained in the U.S. literature. What do we know about population processes? What do we need to know? How do we get from here to there? The paper reviews the state of the art, notes the alleged shortfalls, and points in remedial directions