Social and behavioural science
Social and behavioural science studies how individuals, groups and institutions think, act and organise. It explains vulnerability, risk perception, compliance and collective response to shocks. Society and Human Development stewards this page for the Nexus Consortium.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04The methodWhat social and behavioural science covers
- 05Reference practiceSocial science evidence follows survey, ethics and reporting standards
- 06In systemic risk workPeople decide how a shock unfolds
- 07Applied inPlatforms that apply this method
GCRI · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Social and behavioural science studies how individuals, groups and institutions think, act and organise. Social science identifies who is exposed and less able to cope, and why warnings are or are not acted upon. In the Nexus Consortium, Society and Human Development stewards its canonical page, and 6 other platforms apply it, including Nexus Campaigns as well as Disaster Resilience and Recovery.
People and services in Egypt and the Nile Delta.
Where people live and how far each division sits from a large city's services, shown for Egypt and the Nile Delta as an example geography for this subject.
What social and behavioural science covers.
- 01
Core methods
survey research; qualitative interviewing; behavioural experiments; ethnographic observation; social vulnerability indexing; mixed-methods evaluation.
- 02
Data and instruments
household and opinion surveys; census microdata; administrative records; interview transcripts; digital trace data.
- 03
Validation
Findings are tested through replication, triangulation of methods and pre-registered designs. Measurement instruments are checked for reliability and validity.
- 04
Limits
Behaviour is context dependent and may change under stress. Self-reported data carry recall and social desirability biases.
- 05
Use in risk decisions
Social science identifies who is exposed and less able to cope, and why warnings are or are not acted upon. It informs equitable design of policies and interventions across interconnected risks.
Social science evidence follows survey, ethics and reporting standards.
| Reference | What it sets |
|---|---|
| UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics | Independence and quality of official data |
| Research ethics review and informed consent | Protection of participants, especially in crises |
| CARE principles | Indigenous data governance |
| INFORM Risk Index | Composite vulnerability and coping capacity indicators |
People decide how a shock unfolds.
Evacuation decisions, vaccine uptake, panic buying and trust in warnings change the course of events. Social science provides measurement of these behaviours and of vulnerability, and causal analysis of what changes them. Systemic models that represent people as fixed exposure miss the feedback that often decides outcomes.
- Composite indices hide trade-offs; report components.
- Surveys after disasters suffer survivor and access bias.
- Behavioural parameters transfer poorly between cultures and contexts.
- Applications on Human Development and Nexus Campaigns.
Platforms that apply this method.
- Nexus CampaignsInstitutionGCRI
- Disaster Resilience and RecoveryInstitutionGCRI
- Cities and Built EnvironmentInstitutionGCRI
- Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous SystemsInstitutionGCRI
- Society and Human DevelopmentInstitutionGCRI
- Future of Work and SkillsInstitutionGCRI
- Information Integrity and Public TrustInstitutionGRF
Who maintains this page.
Society and Human Development stewards social and behavioural science: it keeps this description current and reviews how the method is applied across the platforms.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cognitive interview | An interview that asks people to think aloud while reading material, to find where it is misunderstood. |
| Pre-test | Testing campaign material with a sample of the audience before release. |
| Comparison group | A group not exposed to a campaign, used to estimate what would have happened without it. |
| Social vulnerability | The characteristics of people and groups that affect their ability to anticipate, cope with and recover from hazards. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Where this page leads across the Consortium.
- Social and behavioural science for campaignsGCRIApplied in Nexus Campaigns.
- Social science of disastersGCRIApplied in Disaster Resilience and Recovery.
- Social science for citiesGCRIApplied in Cities and Built Environment.
- Social science of AIGCRIApplied in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems.
- Social science methodsGCRIApplied in Society and Human Development.
- Social science of workGCRIApplied in Future of Work and Skills.
- Social and behavioural science for information integrity and public trustGRFApplied in Information Integrity and Public Trust.
Questions and answers.
Why does one institution host every method page?
How do I suggest a correction to a method page?
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.