Department of Social and Decision Sciences

Location: Porter Hall 208
www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds

The Department of Social and Decision Sciences is a multidisciplinary department that offers undergraduate programs that focus on decision making using a broad set of social science approaches.  Theoretical and empirical work is seamlessly combined with the practical skills needed to excel in key decision making roles in the public, private, and non-profit sectors and in advanced graduate studies. Our students learn how to combine standards of rationality with the realities of human and organizational behavior and to apply these lessons across a wide variety of endeavors, ranging from government service to leadership positions consulting, marketing, data science, and other sectors.

The department offers undergraduate majors in Behavioral Economics, in Decision Science, and in Policy and Management. Each major includes a distinct set of required and elective courses.  Course offerings leverage faculty strength in behavioral decision making, behavioral economics, and behavioral science approaches to public policy to produce a unique curriculum. 

Our faculty is committed to the academic success and growth of our students and many of our undergraduates work with faculty on research projects and internships. The directors of the majors are easily accessible and encourage students to talk with them about their curriculum, progress, and available opportunities.  Our academic advisors are committed to working with each individual student to help them create, clarify, and meet their goals.

The Department of Social and Decision Sciences has long been recognized as a global nexus of decision science expertise, offering undergraduate programs that are available at few other universities.  Our cohesive majors combine theory and practice allowing our graduates to excel in a range of professions or in the pursuit of advanced studies.

The Major in Behavioral Economics

Peter Schwardmann, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 223J
schwardmann@andrew.cmu.edu

Lizzy Stoyle, Senior Academic Advisor
Location: Porter Hall 208G
estoyle@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/LizzyStoyle

The field of Behavioral Economics (BE) integrates perspectives from Economics and Psychology to better understand how people make consequential decisions and to leverage this understanding to improve the design of the policies, programs, and institutions that govern such behavior. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of interest in BE among governments and organizations, around the world, including here in the United States. On the policy front, this has led to the formation of government “nudge” units charged with applying BE principles to policy areas such as education, criminal justice, taxation, social benefit programs, consumer protection, and unemployment. Organizations have also aggressively sought to apply BE to encourage employee productivity, improve employee health and financial wellness, reshape managerial and hiring decisions, and to better understand and engage consumers. 

The faculty in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS) has long stood at the forefront of research and teaching in BE. Our faculty has developed a reputation for working closely with governments and firms to help apply BE to address a range of issues such as predatory lending and consumer protection, bias among institutional investors, employee reward and incentive programs, behavioral barriers to retirement savings, participation in social service programs, medical adherence, pre-trial detainment of defendants, and gender and racial inequality in the workplace. 

The new major of BE-- the first of its kind among US undergraduate institutions--was designed to rigorously train students in the field of Behavioral Economics and to encourage them to critically consider its relevance to policy and organizations. The major emphasizes both theory and the practical promise of BE to solve problems of importance to policy makers and organizations through the largest undergraduate selection of BE courses of any university in the world. Towards this end, students will learn to collect original data, design field and laboratory experiments, analyze data and draw causal inferences, and develop interventions to improve economic outcomes and decisions. The core requirements include courses in Economics, Psychology, Behavioral Economics, and quantitative methods- including experimental design and econometrics. Students who complete the major will be well positioned to enter the private sector in a role involving data or people analytics, marketing, corporate strategy, or human resources, or to enter a wide range of graduate degree programs. 

Prerequisites

All Behavioral Economics majors must complete mathematics and statistics prerequisites (see below), by the end of the sophomore year.

Mathematics Prerequisite Units
21-111-21-112Calculus I-II10-20
or 21-120 Differential and Integral Calculus
Statistics Prerequisite Units
36-200Reasoning with Data9

Curriculum

The core curriculum in Behavioral Economics consists of three Behavioral Economics courses, two Economic courses, two Psychology courses, three quantitative courses, and one project course.

Behavioral Economics Courses Units
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
 27
Economics Courses Units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
or 73-104 Principles of Microeconomics Accelerated
Second-Level Economics Course*
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
or 73-103 Principles of Macroeconomics
or 73-158 Markets, Models, and Math
or 73-230 Intermediate Microeconomics
or 73-328 Health Economics
or 73-347 Game Theory Applications for Economics and Business
or 73-359 Benefit-Cost Analysis
or 73-408 Law and Economics
or 73-421 Emerging Markets
or 73-427 Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Economics
 18
*

Second-Level Economics course CANNOT double count with the Economics Elective course.

Psychology Courses Units
88-120Reason, Passion and Cognition *9
88-302Behavioral Decision Making9
 18
*

 88-120 Should be taken in the first or sophomore year.

Quantitative Methods Courses Units
36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
88-251Empirical Research Methods9
88-252Cause and Effect9
or 73-274 Econometrics I
 27
Senior Project Course Units
88-453Behavioral Economics Capstone9
 9
ELECTIVES36 units

Complete at least 27 units from the following categories. Students MUST take one elective from the Economics category, and another from the Behavioral Economics category.  The third elective may be chosen from either the Behavioral Economics or Psychology categories. Note that not all elective courses are offered every year.

Economics* Units
73-103Principles of Macroeconomics9
73-158Markets, Models, and Math9
73-230Intermediate Microeconomics **9
73-328Health Economics12
73-347Game Theory Applications for Economics and Business9
73-359Benefit-Cost Analysis9
73-408Law and Economics9
73-421Emerging Markets ***9
73-427Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Economics9
88-323Policy in a Global Economy9
*

ANY 73-3XX or 73-4XX courses be counted as an economic elective course. Consult the Academic Advisor for more information about this process. NOTE: The Economics Elective course CANNOT double count with the Second-Level Economics core requirement. 

**

Requires additional Math beyond 21-112 or 21-120.

***

73-421 has a required prerequisite of 73-103 Principles of Macroeconomics, which is NOT a course requirement for the BE major.

Behavioral Economics Units
88-255Strategic Decision Making9
88-261Health Policy9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
88-366Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
Psychology Units
70-311Organizational Behavior9
70-385Consumer Behavior *9
70-443Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy9
85-350Psychology of Prejudice9
85-352Evolutionary Psychology9
85-358Pro-Social Behavior9
85-375Crosscultural Psychology9
85-377Attitudes and Persuasion9
85-442Health Psychology9
85-446Psychology of Gender9
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-231Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-342The Neuroscience of Decision Making9
88-372Social and Emotional Brain9
88-380Dynamic Decisions9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9
88-419International Negotiation9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
 
*

70-385 has a required prerequisite of 70-381 Marketing 1, which is NOT a course requirement for the BE major.

Note: Some courses have additional prerequisites.

Behavioral Economics, B.S. Sample Curriculum 

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
88-120 Reason, Passion and Cognition*36-202 Methods for Statistics & Data Science88-251 Empirical Research Methods88-252 Cause and Effect
21-120 Differential and Integral CalculusSecond-Level Economics Course Pick One (88-221, 73-103, 73-158, 73-230 (requires Math beyond 21-112/21-120), 73-328, 73-347, 73-359, 73-408, 73-421, 73-427)88-360 Behavioral Economics88-302 Behavioral Decision Making
36-200 Reasoning with DataPick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, First Year Writing, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)88-365 Behavioral Economics and Public Policy88-367 Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations
73-102 Principles of Microeconomics Or 73-104 Principles of Microeconomics AcceleratedPick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, First Year Writing, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)Gen Ed or ElectiveBehavioral Economics Elective
Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, First Year Writing, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)Gen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
Economics ElectivePsychology Elective88-453 Behavioral Economics CapstoneElective or Senior Honors Thesis**
Gen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or ElectiveElectiveElective
Gen Ed or ElectiveElectiveElectiveElective
ElectiveElectiveElectiveElective
ElectiveElectiveElectiveElective
*

Should be taken as the first course in Behavioral Economics major sequence. It is intended for students in their first or second year and is offered in both the fall and spring semesters. It may be taken as late as the junior year. 

**

 Senior Honors Thesis may be substituted in the Spring term for 88-453 Behavioral Economics Capstone, which is only offered in the Fall term.

This is presented as a recommended plan for completing major requirements. The major can be completed in as few as two years (not that it must be), but students may not have time for other opportunities such as additional majors or study abroad. Students may declare their major as early as the third week of the spring semester in the first-year. Students who are planning to attend the Washington Semester Program, to study abroad, to apply for the Heinz Accelerated Masters Program, or to pursue an additional major/minor may have a very different curriculum map and should consult early – and often – with the Behavioral Economics Academic Advisor.

Additional Major

Students who elect Behavioral Economics as an additional major must fulfill all of the requirements of the Behavioral Economics major.

Additional majors cannot count BE electives toward simultaneously fulfilling requirements for another major or minor. Students who are interested in an additional major in Behavioral Economics should consult the Behavioral Economics Academic Advisor for guidance.

Students pursuing Decision Science with an additional major in Behavioral Economics may only count 36-202 , 73-102, 88-120, 88-251 and 88-302 toward the completion of both majors.

Students pursuing Policy and Management with an additional major in Behavioral Economics may only count 36-202, 73-102 and 88-251 toward the completion of both majors.

The Major in Decision Science

Silvia Saccardo, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 319C
DS-advisor@andrew.cmu.edu
ssaccard@andrew.cmu.edu

Lizzy Stoyle, Senior Academic Advisor
Advises Primary Majors in Decision Science
Location: 208G
estoyle@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/LizzyStoyle

Connie Angermeier, Senior Academic Program Manager
Advises All Transfer Students, Additional Majors and Minors in Decision Science
Location: Porter Hall 208H
cla2@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/ConnieAngermeier

The interdisciplinary field of Decision Science seeks to understand and improve the judgment and decision making of individuals, groups, and organizations. Qualified graduates can continue to PhD programs in Decision Science or related fields (e.g., psychology, business), pursue professional degrees (e.g., MBA, MD, JD, MPH), or take professional positions in business, government, consulting, or the non-profit sector. Students work with faculty and the Academic Advisor to tailor their education to their personal needs and interest.

Carnegie Mellon is one of the leading centers for the study of Decision Science - and offers the only undergraduate major that integrates analytical and behavioral approaches to decision making.  Our faculty are involved in applying Decision Science in a wide variety of areas, allowing them to share practical experiences with students. These applications include use of decision aids (e.g., effects on cognitive processes of using technology), medical decision making (e.g., harnessing decision principles to design interventions to promote healthy behavior), risk management (e.g., assessing and communicating the risks of climate change), marketing (e.g., understanding the effects of inter-temporal choice on purchasing decisions), and business (e.g., identifying unrecognized conflicts of interest).

Decision Science is grounded in theories and methods drawn from psychology, economics, philosophy, statistics, and management science. Courses in the major cover the three aspects of decision science: (a) normative analysis, creating formal models of choice; (b) descriptive research, studying how cognitive, emotional, social, and institutional factors affect judgment and choice, and (c) prescriptive interventions, seeking to improve judgment and decision making. In addition to gaining a broad education in the principles of judgment and decision making, Decision Science majors gain broadly applicable skills in research design and analysis and in application of research findings to behavioral problems in consumer, organizational, and public policy arenas..

The core courses present fundamental theories and results from the study of decision making, along with their application to real-world problems. They introduce students to methods for collecting and analyzing behavioral data. For example, students learn to conduct surveys (e.g., uncovering consumer or managerial preferences), design experiments (e.g., evaluating theories, comparing ways of presenting information), and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

The elective courses provide students with additional knowledge in areas of decision making that meet their personal, intellectual, and career goals. These courses are organized into six clusters: biological and behavioral aspects of decision making, managerial and organizational aspects, philosophical and ethical perspectives, economic and statistical methods, public policy, and research methods. Students can concentrate in one area or spread their studies across them. In addition to coursework, the department offers research opportunities for interested and qualified students. Participating in research helps students to extend their mastery of decision science, discover whether a research career is right for them, and get to know faculty and graduate students better.

Prerequisites

All Decision Science majors must complete mathematics, statistics, and analytic methods prerequisites (see below), by the end of the sophomore year.

Mathematics Prerequisite Units
21-111-21-112Calculus I-II10-20
or 21-120 Differential and Integral Calculus
Statistics Prerequisite Units
36-200Reasoning with Data9

Students must take one course from the following set (or an approved alternative).  Students may not count a course used to fulfill the Mathematics Prerequisite as also filling the Analytic Methods Prerequisite.  Students may not count a course used to fulfill the Analytic Methods Prerequisite as also filling a Decision Science elective.

Analytic Methods Prerequisite Units
21-122Integration and Approximation10
21-256Multivariate Analysis9
21-257Models and Methods for Optimization9
36-309Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences9
36-401Modern Regression9
36-410Introduction to Probability Modeling9
80-210Logic and Proofs9
80-211Logic and Mathematical Inquiry9
80-315Modal Logic9
88-252Cause and Effect9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9

Curriculum

The core curriculum in Decision Science consists of five courses providing the theoretical perspectives of Decision Science, two courses in research methods, and one capstone.

Theoretical Perspectives Units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
85-102Introduction to Psychology9
88-120Reason, Passion and Cognition *9
88-223Decision Analysis12
88-302Behavioral Decision Making9
 48

* 88-120 should be taken in the freshman or sophomore year.

Statistical Research Methods (one course)* Units
36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
36-309Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences9
85-309Statistical Concepts and Methods for Behavioral and Social Science9
* Be sure to consult with your Decision Science advisor to discuss which course will best fit your plans and goals. 
SDS Research Methods Units
88-251Empirical Research Methods9
 9
Capstone Units
88-454Decision Science Capstone9
Electives36 units

Complete at least 36 units of courses from the following categories. The selected courses may be from one category or from any combination.  Note that not all elective courses are offered every year.

At least two of these courses (18 units) must be Department of Social and Decision Sciences courses (88-xxx) from the approved list.

1. Biological and Behavioral Aspects of Decision Making Units
85-350Psychology of Prejudice9
85-352Evolutionary Psychology9
85-363Attention, Its Development and Disorders9
85-375Crosscultural Psychology9
85-377Attitudes and Persuasion9
85-442Health Psychology9
85-443Social Factors and Well-Being9
85-444Relationships9
85-446Psychology of Gender9
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-231Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-342The Neuroscience of Decision Making9
88-355Social Brains: Neural Bases of Social Perception and Cognition9
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-372Social and Emotional Brain9
88-380Dynamic Decisions9
2. Managerial and Organization Aspects of Decision Making
70-311Organizational Behavior9
70-381Marketing I9
70-443Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
88-150Managing Decisions9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
88-419International Negotiation9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
88-451Policy Analysis Senior Project12
or 88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
3. Philosophical and Ethical Perspectives on Decision Making Units
70-332Business, Society and Ethics9
80-208Critical Thinking9
80-221Philosophy of Social Science9
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-245Medical Ethics9
80-246Moral Psychology9
80-249AI, Society, and Humanity9
80-271Mind and Body: The Objective and the Subjective9
80-305Game Theory9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
80-324Philosophy of Economics9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
4. Economic and Statistical Methods for Decision Science Units
70-374Data Mining & Business Analytics9
70-455Data Management Fundamentals9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
73-265Economics and Data Science9
73-347Game Theory Applications for Economics and Business9
80-405Game Theory9
88-255Strategic Decision Making9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
88-379Data-Driven Decision Analysis9
5. Decision Science and Public Policy
84-369Decision Science for International Relations9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-261Health Policy9
88-344Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-366Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development9
88-405Risk Perception and Communication9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
88-451Policy Analysis Senior Project12
or 88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
6. Research Methods for Decision Science Units
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
85-310Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology9
85-314Cognitive Neuroscience Research Methods9
88-252Cause and Effect9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9

Note: Some courses have additional prerequisites.

Decision Science, B.S. Sample Curriculum

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
88-120 Reason, Passion and Cognition *36-202 Methods for Statistics & Data Science85-102 Introduction to Psychology88-302 Behavioral Decision Making
36-200 Reasoning with DataPick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)88-251 Empirical Research Methods88-252 Cause and Effect 88-300, or other Analytic Methods course
21-120 Differential and Integral Calculus (or 21-111, depending on placement)Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)Decision Science ElectiveDecision Science Elective
Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)Gen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or Elective
73-102 Principles of MicroeconomicsGen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
Decision Science Elective88-223 Decision AnalysisSenior Honors Thesis or ElectiveSenior Honors Thesis or Elective
Gen Ed or ElectiveDecision Science ElectiveDecision Science ElectiveElective
ElectiveGen Ed or ElectiveElectiveElective
ElectiveElectiveElectiveElective
ElectiveElectiveElectiveElective

* 88-120 should be taken as the first course in the Decision Science sequence. It is intended for students in their first or second year; it is offered in Fall and Spring semesters. It may be taken as late as the junior year.

This is presented as a recommended plan for completing major requirements. The major can be completed in as few as two years (not that it must be), but students may not have time for other opportunities such as additional majors or study abroad. Students may declare their major as early as the third week of the spring semester in the freshman year. Students who are planning to attend the Washington Semester Program, to study abroad, to apply for the Heinz Accelerated Masters Program, or to pursue an additional major/minor may have a very different curriculum map and should consult early – and often – with the Decision Science Academic Advisor.

Students are encouraged to consider the Washington Semester Program as part of their education. Suitable courses will be considered as fulfilling requirements of electives in the major. Please send the course syllabus, along with a note explaining how the course addresses fundamental aspects of decision science in one of the six elective categories.

Additional Major in Decision Science

Students who elect Decision Science as an additional major must fulfill all of the requirements of the Decision Science major.

Students pursuing Behavioral Economics with an additional major in Decision Science may only count 36-202, 73-102, 88-120, 88-251 and 88-302  toward the completion of both majors.

Students pursuing Policy and Management with an additional major in Decision Science and may only count 36-202, 73-10288-223, and 88-251 toward the completion of both majors.

Additional majors cannot count menu electives toward simultaneously fulfilling more than one major or minor. Students who are interested in an additional major in Decision Science should see the Academic Advisor of the Decision Science program.

The Major in Policy and Management

Christina Fong, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 223I
P-and-M-advisor@andrew.cmu.edu

Connie Angermeier, Senior Academic Program Manager and Advisor
Location: Porter Hall 208H
cla2@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/ConnieAngermeier

The Policy and Management major prepares students for key decision-making and management roles in government, non-profit organizations, and business. The major emphasizes analytical approaches to decision making, practical management skills, and empirical techniques necessary for graduates to excel in the public and private sectors. The multidisciplinary curriculum merges frontier knowledge on the ideals of decision making, policy, and data analysis, as well as the realities of individual behavior within various institutional settings that must be confronted if high-quality outcomes are to be attained.

The major is comprised of three required core areas taken by all Policy and Management majors, a capstone course, plus one of four concentration areas to be chosen by the student.

The three core areas are as follows:

The Policy Core gives students applied economic training and policy analysis experience. Students will gain an analytical understanding of some of the biggest domestic and global economic policy challenges, and gain an appreciation of the economic analysis of complex decisions, as well as the trade-off between economic and political-based decision making.

The Management Core focuses on real-world applications of decision making.  Students will develop an understanding of effective negotiation strategies and tactics, and identify the barriers and the psychological factors that may prevent decision-makers from reaching wise agreements.  The courses provide systematic methods for dealing with the complexities that make decisions difficult, ranging from incorporating issues of risk and uncertainty in decision making to dealing with choices that have mutually conflicting objectives. For example, a business or government agency may need to decide on a policy for mitigating the uncertain impacts of air pollution while simultaneously trying to minimize the costs of such a policy on manufacturing. A firm might want to consider the uncertain reductions in security dangers from alternative policies to protect against terrorism. 

The Empirical Core focuses on key methods for collecting and analyzing data that are needed to make informed decisions. Students learn to use interviews, surveys, experiments, and econometric methods to enhance their ability to test existing, and design new, policies.  Students will create statistical models to address questions asked in conceptual, computational, and data-driven investigations.

The required Capstone course gives students hands-on experience in a policy-related area.  Students work in teams to apply the research and analytical methods learned in their other courses to a real-world problem.

Finally, the four concentration areas consist of four courses chosen by the student, in coordination with the Academic Advisor.  The concentrations emphasize different aspects of decision making within the major: (1) Analytics, (2) Policy, (3) Management, and (4) Law.  Each of the concentration areas draws upon the research and teaching strength of the Department of Social and Decision Sciences.  Additionally, select courses from other areas in the University have been identified and approved as fulfilling elective requirements within the concentrations.  More detail will be found in the concentration areas below.

The Policy and Management major provides an excellent combination of theoretical and practical skills for students who intend to seek managerial positions. Because of its strong analytic orientation, it is also an excellent major for those who intend to go on to professional school programs in law, business, or public policy. It is also an appropriate choice for students pursuing graduate degrees in economics, political science, or decision science. One such graduate option is the accelerated master’s program offered by the H. J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, in which a student earns both a B.S. in Policy and Management and a M.S. in Public Policy and Management in five years.

Prerequisites

All Policy and Management majors must complete mathematics and statistics prerequisites (see below), by the end of the sophomore year.

Mathematics Prerequisite Units
21-111-21-112Calculus I-II10-20
or 21-120 Differential and Integral Calculus
Statistics Prerequisite Units
36-200Reasoning with Data9

Curriculum

Policy Core Units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
 18
Management Core Units
88-150Managing Decisions9
or 88-255 Strategic Decision Making
88-223Decision Analysis12
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
or 88-419 International Negotiation
 30
Empirical Core Units
36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
88-251Empirical Research Methods9
88-252Cause and Effect9
or 88-275 Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds
 27
Capstone
88-451Policy Analysis Senior Project12
or 88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
Concentration36 units

Complete at least 36 units (a minimum of four courses) from the following concentrations of courses. Students are required to declare a concentration before their graduating semester, but are not required to choose a concentration when they initially declare (typically in the freshman or sophomore year).  In fact, students are encouraged to take many of the core classes before making their concentration selection so that they can make a well-informed decision.

1. Analytics Concentration (minimum four total courses) Units
Programming (one course)9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
Analytics/Empirical electives (select any two courses)18
88-252Cause and Effect
(if not taken in Empirical Core)
9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds
(if not taken in Empirical Core)
9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-379Data-Driven Decision Analysis9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
36-315Statistical Graphics and Visualization9
70-257Optimization for Business9
70-374Data Mining & Business Analytics9
70-455Data Management Fundamentals9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
90-834Health Care Geographical Information Systems *12
Analytics concentration breadth elective (select one course from any of the other three concentrations; must be 88xxx)9

* other Heinz courses are also approved.  Please talk with the P&M advisor for information about getting approval for Heinz course registration.

2. Policy Concentration (minimum four total courses) Units
Policy electives (select three courses; at least one of the three must be 88xxx)27
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-261Health Policy9
88-323Policy in a Global Economy9
88-344Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-366Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
88-411Rise of the Asian Economies9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
19-402Telecommunications Technology and Policy for the Internet Age12
19-421Emerging Energy Policies9
19-639Policies of the Internet12
73-328Health Economics12
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-324Philosophy of Economics9
84-310International Political Economy9
84-362Diplomacy and Statecraft9
84-389Terrorism and Insurgency9
90-798Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy *12
Policy concentration breadth elective (select one course from any of the other three concentrations; must be 88xxx)9

 * other Heinz courses are also approved.  Please talk with the P&M advisor for information about getting approval for Heinz course registration

3. Management Concentration (minimum four total courses) Units
Management electives (select three courses; at least one of the three must be 88xxx)27
88-231Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online9
88-341Team Dynamics and Leadership9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-411Rise of the Asian Economies9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights
(if not taken in Management Core)
9
88-419International Negotiation
(if not taken in Management Core)
9
70-311Organizational Behavior9
70-332Business, Society and Ethics9
70-342Managing Across Cultures9
70-371Operations Management9
70-381Marketing I9
70-430International Management9
Management concentration breadth elective (select one course from any of the other three concentrations; must be 88xxx)9
4. Law Concentration (minimum four total courses) Units
Topics of Law (select one course)9
88-281Topics in Law: 1st Amendment9
88-284Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights9
Law electives (select any two courses)18
88-281Topics in Law: 1st Amendment
(if not used in required)
9
88-284Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights
(if not used in required)
9
70-364Business Law6
70-365International Trade and International Law9
73-408Law and Economics9
76-219Law & Blame9
76-450Law, Culture, and the Humanities9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
79-360Crime, Policing, and the Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
80-447Global Justice9
84-373Emerging Technologies and International Law9
Law concentration breadth elective (select one course from any of the other three concentrations; must be 88xxx)9

NOTE: Some courses have additional prerequisites.

Policy and Management, B.S. Sample Curriculum

First-YearSecond-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
88-150 Managing Decisions36-202 Methods for Statistics & Data Science88-251 Empirical Research Methods88-221 Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy
36-200 Reasoning with Data73-102 Principles of Microeconomics88-275 Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds88-223 Decision Analysis
21-120 Differential and Integral Calculus (or 21-111, depending on placement)Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)88-418 Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights or 88-419 International Negotiations88-252 Cause and Effect
Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities)Pick One (Grand Challenge Seminar, FYW, Disciplinary Perspectives: Humanities) Gen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or Elective
Gen Ed or Elective Gen Ed or Elective Gen Ed or ElectiveGen Ed or Elective

Third-YearFourth-Year
FallSpringFallSpring
Policy & Management concentration elective Policy & Management concentration elective Capstone (either 88-452 in fall or 88-451 in spring)Capstone (either 88-451 in spring or 88-452 in fall)
Policy & Management concentration elective Policy & Management concentration electiveSenior Honors Thesis or ElectiveSenior Honors Thesis or Elective
Gen EdElectiveComplete remaining gen eds/electives Complete remaining gen eds/electives
ElectiveElectiveadditional Policy & Management concentration electives additional Policy & Management concentration electives
ElectiveElectiveadditional Policy & Management concentration electives additional Policy & Management concentration electives
Students may consider the CMU Washington Semester Program or study abroad in this semesterStudents may consider the CMU Washington Semester Program or study abroad in this semester

This is presented as a recommended plan for completing major requirements.  Students may declare their major as early as the third week of the spring semester in the freshman year. Students who are planning to attend the Washington Semester Program, to study abroad, to apply for the Heinz Accelerated Masters Program, or to pursue an additional major/minor may have a very different curriculum map and should consult early – and often – with the Policy and Management Academic Advisor.

Students are encouraged to consider the Washington Semester Program as part of their education. Suitable courses may be considered as fulfilling requirements of concentration electives in the major.  Please discuss course selections with the Academic Advisor during the application phase to the program. 

Additional Major

Students who elect Policy and Management as an additional major must fulfill all of the requirements of the Policy and Management major.  For additional majors in Policy and Management, courses taken as concentration electives may not count toward the student's primary major or other program.

Students pursuing Behavioral Economics, Policy, and Organizations with an additional major in Policy and Management may only count 36-202 , 73-102, and 88-251 (and 88-252, if taken in Empirical Core) toward the completion of both majors.

Students pursuing Decision Science with an additional major in Policy and Management may only count 36-202 , 73-10288-223 , and 88-251 toward the completion of both majors.

Additional majors cannot count menu electives toward simultaneously fulfilling more than one major or minor. Students who are interested in an additional major in Policy and Management should see the Academic Advisor of the Policy and Management program.

The Minor in Behavioral Economics

Peter Schwardmann, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 223J
schwardmann@andrew.cmu.edu

Lizzy Stoyle, Senior Academic Advisor
Location: 208G
estoyle@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/LizzyStoyle

The minor in Behavioral Economics, provides students with a selective survey of disciplinary perspectives. The field of Behavioral Economics (BE) integrates perspectives from Economics and Psychology to better understand how people make consequential decisions and to leverage this understanding to improve the design of the policies, programs, and institutions that govern such behavior. The core requirements include courses in Economics, Psychology, Behavioral Economics, and quantitative methods- including experimental design and econometrics. Students who elect Behavioral Economics as a minor must complete the six core courses and one elective from the elective set (below).

Students may double-count one course with another major or minor. 73-102 is excluded from this double count policy. 

Curriculum

The core curriculum in Behavioral Economics consists of one quantitative course, two Economic courses, one Psychology course, and two Behavioral Economics courses.

CURRICULUM63

Core Courses54

Quantitative Methods Core Units
36-202Methods for Statistics & Data Science9
Economics Core Units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
or 73-104 Principles of Microeconomics Accelerated
Second-Level Economics Course
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
or 73-103 Principles of Macroeconomics
or 73-158 Markets, Models, and Math
or 73-230 Intermediate Microeconomics
or 73-328 Health Economics
or 73-347 Game Theory Applications for Economics and Business
or 73-359 Benefit-Cost Analysis
or 73-408 Law and Economics
or 73-421 Emerging Markets
or 73-427 Sustainability, Energy, and Environmental Economics
 18
Psychology Core Units
88-120Reason, Passion and Cognition9
Behavioral Economics Core Units
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations *9
or 88-365 Behavioral Economics and Public Policy
 18
*

Behavioral Economics core courses CANNOT double count with the elective course.

Elective Courses9

Complete at least one of the courses (9 units) from the following list. Note: Behavioral Economics core courses CANNOT double count with the elective course.
Elective Courses Units
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-251Empirical Research Methods9
88-252Cause and Effect9
88-255Strategic Decision Making9
88-261Health Policy9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
88-302Behavioral Decision Making9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-323Policy in a Global Economy9
88-342The Neuroscience of Decision Making9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
88-372Social and Emotional Brain9
88-380Dynamic Decisions9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
88-419International Negotiation9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
Note: Some courses have additional prerequisites. 

The Minor in Decision Science

Silvia Saccardo, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 319C
DS-advisor@andrew.cmu.edu

Connie Angermeier, Senior Academic Program Manager
Advises Additional Majors and Minors in Decision Science
Location: Porter Hall 208H
cla2@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/ConnieAngermeier

The minor in Decision Science provides students with a selective survey of disciplinary perspectives. The courses present descriptive and normative approaches to judgment and decision making, as well as some application of theories and results to real-world problems. Students who elect Decision Science as a minor must complete the four core courses (below) and two electives from the elective set (below).

Students may double-count two courses with another major or minor.

Curriculum57 units

Core Courses39 units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
88-120Reason, Passion and Cognition9
88-223Decision Analysis12
88-302Behavioral Decision Making9
Elective Courses18 units

Complete two courses from the following categories. At least one of the courses (9 units) must be a Social and Decision Sciences course (88-xxx).

1. Biological and Behavioral Aspects of Decision Making Units
85-443Social Factors and Well-Being9
85-350Psychology of Prejudice9
85-352Evolutionary Psychology9
85-363Attention, Its Development and Disorders9
85-375Crosscultural Psychology9
85-377Attitudes and Persuasion9
85-442Health Psychology9
85-444Relationships9
85-446Psychology of Gender9
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-231Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-342The Neuroscience of Decision Making9
88-355Social Brains: Neural Bases of Social Perception and Cognition9
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-372Social and Emotional Brain9
88-380Dynamic Decisions9
2. Managerial and Organizational Aspects of Decision Making Units
70-311Organizational Behavior9
70-381Marketing I9
70-443Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
88-150Managing Decisions9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
88-419International Negotiation9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
88-451Policy Analysis Senior Project12
or 88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
3. Philosophical and Ethical Perspectives on Decision Making Units
70-332Business, Society and Ethics9
80-208Critical Thinking9
80-221Philosophy of Social Science9
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-245Medical Ethics9
80-246Moral Psychology9
80-249AI, Society, and Humanity9
80-271Mind and Body: The Objective and the Subjective9
80-305Game Theory9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
80-324Philosophy of Economics9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
4. Economic and Statistical Methods for Decision Science Units
70-374Data Mining & Business Analytics9
70-455Data Management Fundamentals9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
73-265Economics and Data Science9
73-347Game Theory Applications for Economics and Business9
80-405Game Theory9
88-255Strategic Decision Making9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
88-360Behavioral Economics9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
88-379Data-Driven Decision Analysis9
5. Decision Science and Public Policy Units
84-369Decision Science for International Relations9
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-261Health Policy9
88-344Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-366Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development9
88-405Risk Perception and Communication9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
88-451Policy Analysis Senior Project12
or 88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
6. Research Methods for Decision Science Units
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
85-310Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology9
85-314Cognitive Neuroscience Research Methods9
88-252Cause and Effect9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9

Note: Some courses have additional prerequisites.

The Minor in Policy and Management

Christina Fong, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 223I
P-and-M-advisor@andrew.cmu.edu

Connie Angermeier, Senior Academic Program Manager and Advisor
Location: Porter Hall 208A
cla2@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/ConnieAngermeier

Regardless of major, many Carnegie Mellon graduates will face analytical and managerial challenges and responsibilities in their professional lives. Whether these are in their area of expertise or in more general settings, these roles will to some degree require assumption of the responsibility for directing the work of others. The Policy and Management minor is intended for students who expect to need these management concepts and skills. 

Students may double-count one course with another major or minor.

Curriculum57 units

Required Courses39 units
73-102Principles of Microeconomics9
88-150Managing Decisions9
or 88-255 Strategic Decision Making
88-221Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy9
88-223Decision Analysis12

18 unitsElectives

Complete two courses (at least 18 units) from any of the concentrations (Analytics, Policy, Management, and Law).  Courses do not need to be taken from the same concentration.  The courses are listed by their concentration categories as a way to guide students.  At least one of the courses (9 units) must be a Social and Decision Sciences course (88-xxx).

Analytics Concentration
88-252Cause and Effect9
88-275Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds9
88-300Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists9
88-312Decision Models and Games9
88-379Data-Driven Decision Analysis9
88-388Psychological Models of Decision Making9
21-257Models and Methods for Optimization9
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
36-315Statistical Graphics and Visualization9
70-374Data Mining & Business Analytics9
70-455Data Management Fundamentals9
70-460Mathematical Models for Consulting9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
90-834Health Care Geographical Information Systems *12

* other Heinz courses are also approved.  Please talk with the P&M advisor for information about getting approval for Heinz course registration 

Policy Concentration Units
88-230Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity9
88-261Health Policy9
88-323Policy in a Global Economy9
88-344Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy9
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
88-366Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development9
88-367Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations9
88-411Rise of the Asian Economies9
88-435Decision Science and Policy9
88-444Public Policy and Regulations9
36-303Sampling, Survey and Society9
19-402Telecommunications Technology and Policy for the Internet Age12
19-421Emerging Energy Policies9
19-639Policies of the Internet12
73-328Health Economics12
80-244Environmental Ethics9
80-324Philosophy of Economics9
84-310International Political Economy9
84-362Diplomacy and Statecraft9
84-389Terrorism and Insurgency9
90-798Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy *12

* other Heinz courses are also approved.  Please talk with the P&M advisor for information about getting approval for Heinz course registration 

Management Concentration Units
88-231Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online9
88-341Team Dynamics and Leadership9
88-406Behavioral Economics @ Work9
88-411Rise of the Asian Economies9
88-418Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights9
88-419International Negotiation9
70-311Organizational Behavior9
70-332Business, Society and Ethics9
70-342Managing Across Cultures9
70-371Operations Management9
70-381Marketing I9
70-430International Management9
Law Concentration Units
88-281Topics in Law: 1st Amendment9
88-284Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights9
70-364Business Law6
70-365International Trade and International Law9
73-408Law and Economics9
76-219Law & Blame9
76-450Law, Culture, and the Humanities9
76-475Law, Performance, and Identity9
79-360Crime, Policing, and the Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives9
80-321Causation, Law, and Social Policy9
80-447Global Justice9
84-373Emerging Technologies and International Law9

Course Descriptions

About Course Numbers:

Each Carnegie Mellon course number begins with a two-digit prefix that designates the department offering the course (i.e., 76-xxx courses are offered by the Department of English). Although each department maintains its own course numbering practices, typically, the first digit after the prefix indicates the class level: xx-1xx courses are freshmen-level, xx-2xx courses are sophomore level, etc. Depending on the department, xx-6xx courses may be either undergraduate senior-level or graduate-level, and xx-7xx courses and higher are graduate-level. Consult the Schedule of Classes each semester for course offerings and for any necessary pre-requisites or co-requisites.


88-120 Reason, Passion and Cognition
Fall: 9 units
How do we make decisions? Reason, Passion, and Cognition will be an introduction to the psychology of preference, judgment, and choice. Why do people behave in ways that cannot be defended as "rational" - and how do these deviations inform us about the processes that the mind uses to make fast-and-frugal decisions? The course will focus on the ways that cognitive and emotional processes relate to decisions made in the laboratory and in everyday decision making and will be based on rigorous experimental research.
88-150 Managing Decisions
Fall: 9 units
We make decisions constantly, but making good decisions is hard. Future employers will pay handsomely for decisions that are well thought out, defendable, and understandable. How do we decide how to decide? What is a "good" decision? This course will introduce normative decision-making concepts, including how to formulate decision problems and techniques that account for uncertainty and time preference. Students will learn how to place a quantitative value on information. The course will introduce key decision-making concepts using applications from fields such as decision sciences, business and economics, and public policy. Although prior knowledge of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets is not required, prior familiarity with Excel and a general level of numeracy will be useful.
88-198 Research Training: Social and Decision Sciences
Fall and Spring
This course is part of a set of 100-level courses offered by Dietrich departments as independent studies for second-semester freshmen, and first- or second-semester sophomores, in the College. In general, these courses are designed to give students some real research experience through work on a faculty project or lab in ways that might stimulate and nurture subsequent interest in research participation. Faculty and students devise a regular meeting and task schedule. Each Research Training course is worth 9 units, which generally means a minimum of about 9 work-hours per week. These courses are offered only as electives; i.e., they cannot be applied toward a college or major requirement, although the units do count toward graduation as elective units. Additional details (including a roster and descriptions of Research Training Courses available in any given semester) are available in the Dietrich Academic Advisory Center.
88-200 SDS Colloquium
Spring: 3 units
The SDS Colloquium is an opportunity for students to gather and discuss topics related to the various opportunities available both during the undergraduate career and after graduation. Students will explore areas such as academic planning, personal and professional values, and professional communication/communication skills. Co-curricular experiences such as: study abroad, research, internship/career planning and goal setting, and graduate school are among the topics to be presented. Students will have the opportunity to talk with SDS advisors, faculty, and alumni as well as with other professionals from around the University. Sophomore or junior standing is required.
88-221 Markets, Democracy, and Public Policy
Spring: 9 units
In this course, students will achieve an analytical understanding of some of the most pressing policy challenges of our day. The focus of the course lies in the interaction between markets and government. The course will first introduce analytical foundations of how markets, voting and governments work, and important shortcomings of each. The course will briefly touch on a comparative cross-national perspective on the balance between markets and government pursued in different countries. The second part of the course focuses on a substantive understanding of current policy issues, including health care, inequality, economic conditions of the politically pivotal middle class, resource constraints, globalization, technological change, and the role of all of these topics in political debates, and voter demands.
Prerequisite: 73-102
88-223 Decision Analysis
Spring: 12 units
This course offers practical guidance about how to make better decisions and teaches students how to use modeling to do decision analysis. We analyze decisions involving uncertainty, risk, and time delay. In addition to methods of decision analysis, the course will also emphasize sensitivity analysis and communication of recommendations.
Prerequisites: 36-247 or 36-217 or 36-200 or 36-207 or 36-211 or 70-207 or 36-200 or 36-225 or 36-201
88-230 Human Intelligence and Human Stupidity
Fall: 9 units
By some standards, humans are an incredibly intelligent species. We have set foot on the moon, split the atom, and produced extraordinary works of art and literature (including the complete works of Shakespeare, which, despite theoretical accounts to the contrary, no amount of monkeys on typewriters has ever been able to duplicate). And yet. we are also the species that has brought about the Darwin Awards, spent $125 million sending a probe to Mars which was unable to function because engineers failed to convert inches to centimeters, and produced cringe-worthy works of art and literature (including the 1964 movie "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" which no amount of monkeys on typewriters would ever want to duplicate.). What is intelligence and how does it vary across individuals and over our lifespans? What are we good at, and what are we bad at, and why? Are there things that that make us dumber? Are there things we can do to make ourselves smarter? How should what we know about the range of human intellectual abilities guide policy, education, law, medicine, and business; what implications does this have regarding the tasks/jobs that humans should be doing and the tasks/jobs that machines ought to do? Using cutting edge research from psychology and decision science, this course will explore the strange contradiction that defines the human experience: How are we simultaneously so smart and so dumb?
88-231 Thinking in Person vs. Thinking Online
Intermittent: 9 units
Being online changes how we think. Different media lead us to ask different questions, remember (or forget) different information, attend to different details, and interact with other people in different ways. These types of thinking aren't inherently better or worse, but they may be better or worse for facilitating specific goals. Too often, we use a particular medium/technology without considering how it will influence our thinking. This can lead us to be less efficient or less effective at a task than we otherwise might be, or can qualitatively change the nature of our outcomes. In this class, we will explore how the media we use affects the character of our thinking, so as to enable students to make mindful and deliberate choices about how to interact with media in ways that support the type of thinking desired and appropriate for their goals. Moreover, we will examine how to optimize media for specific goals in important applied domains, such as education, medicine, policy, child-rearing, and dating.
88-251 Empirical Research Methods
Fall: 9 units
This course teaches students how to evaluate and conduct original research regarding human behavior, whether it be in economic, social, or political settings. The course gives students practical experience in many of the most commonly used research techniques, including surveys, experiments, and quasi-experimental analysis. Although the course focuses primarily on the relationship between formulating research questions and implementing the appropriate methods to answer them, students can expect regularly to apply the statistical techniques learned in the course prerequisites, including regression.
Prerequisites: 36-247 or 36-207 or 36-201 or 36-200
88-252 Cause and Effect
Spring: 9 units
Causal questions are pervasive in the social and behavioral sciences, and empirical researchers often use regression analysis as a tool for tackling such questions. This course focuses on the scientific problem of analyzing causal hypotheses in real-world settings, not on the mathematical details of regression. After clearly distinguishing prediction from causation, we discuss how to represent causal hypotheses and how to use regressions to analyze both predictive and causal hypotheses. Using in-class data exercises throughout, we will examine how to move from an interesting but somewhat vague question about the world (e.g., do police discriminate based on race and gender, do NFL athletes choke under high pressure, does parenthood improve happiness) to a clear statistical model that, when estimated, meaningfully addresses the question asked. The course emphasizes causal analysis as the main research goal and multivariate linear regression as the main statistical tool. After mastering basic techniques, we will introduce students to more advanced econometric approaches such as panel regressions and instrumental variables to deal with trickier settings in which causal inference is more challenging (e.g., do more guns lead to more violence?). In keeping with the hands-on philosophy of the course, a central focus of the semester will be a group research paper/presentation where students will have the opportunity to formulate and empirically test a research question of their choosing. Students will learn how to find, clean, and analyze a new dataset, and then concisely communicate their findings in the form of a scientific paper (and accompanying presentation). The research project makes this course excellent preparation for any student who hopes to ultimately write an undergraduate thesis.
Prerequisites: 36-202 or 85-309 or 70-208 or 36-309
88-255 Strategic Decision Making
Fall: 9 units
How do people navigate social interactions when their goals are in conflict? When should a person cooperate and when should a person pursue self-interest in an ongoing social interaction? How can a business establish strategic partnerships that create value and at the same time battle with competitors to take advantage of the value they create? Strategic decision making requires a framework to think through the implications of cooperation and of competition. This course gives you a systematic approach to understanding how people, firms, or countries interact with one another to achieve their own goals. We focus on the practical application of theory-based strategic principles and on their behavioral validity (whereas traditional game theory courses usually focus on formal modeling techniques). Readings will focus on real-life stories accompanied by a full analysis of the principles involved. The class will be organized as a seminar, centered around discussion, not lecture. Students will also be placed in the role of strategist in occasional simulations in class.
88-261 Health Policy
Fall: 9 units
This course is a deep dive into the US healthcare industry, the economy's biggest sector. You will 1) learn about the most pressing contemporary health and healthcare issues faced by American society; 2) understand the structure of the US healthcare system and the decision-making of its main stakeholders (patients, physicians, hospitals, insurers, governments, and policymakers); and 3) deploy the tools from modern behavioral science and economics to think through policies that improve health and social welfare.
88-275 Bubbles: Data Science for Human Minds
Fall: 9 units
Open discussions turn into echo chambers; optimistic traders pump good money into bad stocks; we fail to see, or sympathize, beyond the limits our culture, upbringing, or education prescribe. These bubbles and #8212; information bubbles, market bubbles, social bubbles and #8212; drive us to ask some of the most basic questions in the social sciences: Why do we believe the things we do? Where do our ideas come from, and how can we measure the consequences of their conjecture, spread, and evolution? How can we design systems to make us better thinkers? In this introduction to the "big data" study of human behavior, we'll learn some key concepts and simple computational tools for studying how people gain and share information, with a focus on what they say and write. And we'll apply these tools to social behaviors from the writing of Harry Potter fan fiction to online trolling, to science, markets, and liberal democracy itself. The class will include conceptual, computational, and data-driven investigations; students in social science, humanities, engineering and the sciences are equally welcome. At the end of this course, students will be able to build models for how people think and talk to each other, to see how thinking and talking work in both the past and present, and to imagine, and even design, systems that might help us think, and talk, together more effectively in the future. Pre-requisites: willingness and initiative to work with real-world data.
Prerequisites: 36-200 or 70-207
88-281 Topics in Law: 1st Amendment
Fall: 9 units
In their firm desire to perfect the new Constitution, which defined and limited the powers and roles of their new government, the founding fathers insisted on explicit statements that would protect the rights of the new nation's citizens. Indeed, the protection of these essential rights in many ways drove and defined their successful rebellion from Britain. This impulse resulted in ten amendments to the Constitution, which we have come to know as the Bill of Rights. The very first (and arguably considered at the time as the most essential) of these was the First Amendment, which we sometimes call the "free speech" amendment to the Constitution. This amendment guarantees every U.S. citizen five freedoms: freedom of religion, speech, press, peaceable assembly, and the freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances. This course examines the historical and philosophical roots of this key constitutional amendment, how it has been fleshed out and defined over time through case law, and the bases of some more recent critics of this amendments and current interpretations.
88-284 Topics of Law: The Bill of Rights
Spring: 9 units
This course examines the history and place of the Bill of Rights in our nation's constitutional framework. It focuses on the historical origins of the U.S. Constitution, of each of the first ten amendments to the Constitution (that we refer to as the "Bill of Rights"), how the meanings and interpretations of these have evolved over time, and what they mean to us today. Each article of the Bill of Rights will be examined in terms of its original intentions, and then through cases that have challenged and been interpreted through the Bill's articles.
88-300 Programming and Data Analysis for Social Scientists
Spring: 9 units
This course presents an introduction to computational thinking through practice with data analysis. Students will develop extensive expertise using the statistical programming language R. Designed primarily with social science majors in mind, students will use a variety of data structures to represent information and solve problems. The course is conducted in a "flipped classroom" style, and places a heavy emphasis on hands-on programming and #8212; in every class, students will practice writing computer programs to conduct analysis and explore social science phenomena. Students will develop skills in all facets of the data analysis pipeline, from installing and loading packages to reading-in files to data cleaning, munging, visualization and modeling. The course is primarily intended for students who have limited familiarity with coding, and assumes no previous exposure to R.
Prerequisites: 36-200 or 36-201
88-302 Behavioral Decision Making
Fall and Spring: 9 units
Behavioral decision making is the study of how people make decisions, in terms that can eventually help them to make better decisions. It draws together research from psychology, economics, political science, and management, among other fields. It has applications that range from managing potentially hazardous technologies, to involving patients more fully in the choice of medical procedures, to the design of computer-interactive systems. The course covers behavioral theories of probabilistic inference, intuitive prediction, preference, and decision making. Topics include heuristics and biases in inference and prediction, risk perceptions and attitudes, strategies for combining information from different sources and dealing with conflicting objectives, and the roles of group and emotional processes in decision making. The course emphasizes the mutually reinforcing relationship between theory and application.
Prerequisites: (36-225 or 36-217 or 36-247 or 36-200 or 36-220 or 70-207 or 36-211 or 36-207 or 36-201) and 88-120
88-312 Decision Models and Games
Spring: 9 units
Humans often make decisions in changing and uncertain situations. A car driver entering a new city must adjust decisions rapidly while moving along heavy traffic; firefighter crews entering a burning building must maintain awareness of the development of fire; citizens in a country must change their activities based on the evolution of a pandemic and the restrictions imposed. While challenging, humans are an adaptable species. We plan and re-adjust our plans to changing conditions; we keep aware of potentially new courses of action; and we manage our limited time, information, and attention to changing environments. How do humans make decisions in dynamic situations? This course will explore human decision making as a dynamic process resulting from human interactions with the environment. The course uses decision games to illustrate how humans learn and adapt to changing conditions of choice, and computational models to simulate decision processes and environmental dynamics. Decision Models and Games will provide: (1) foundational perspectives for using models to represent the dynamics of environments and human decision processes; (2) tools to build computational models of human decision making and of dynamic environments; and (3) practical illustrations of how models and games can be used to understand and generate solutions to a wide range of decision problems, from simple choices to large scale consequential decisions.
Prerequisites: 36-201 or 70-207 or 36-200
88-323 Policy in a Global Economy
Fall: 9 units
From the dawn of the New Deal through the presidency of Barack Obama, the U.S. led the development of an open, global system of relatively free trade and global capital flows. In the current political environment, leaders on both the American political left (like Senator Bernie Sanders) and the political right (like Donald Trump), have called into question this bipartisan consensus in favor of freer trade and investment. That turn away from globalization has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Was the earlier pro-globalization consensus wrong? Is globalization good or bad for the U.S. economy? What are the impacts of globalization on the rest of the world? How has economic globalization impacted the environment and income inequality in the U.S. and around the world? How should the Biden Administration seek to manage international economic policy? This course provides future policy makers and managers with the knowledge and analytical tools necessary to understand economic globalization and its effects. These issues will be studied using the analytical tools and concepts of international economics. Guest lectures and case studies will provide a range of perspectives on current policy debates. The course will also examine science-based policies that could maximize the benefits and minimize the disruption generated by globalization. The fall 2021 version of the course will examine the global macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways in which international policy coordination and #8212; or lack thereof and #8212; worsened that impact.
Prerequisite: 73-102
Course Website: https://api.heinz.cmu.edu/courses_api/course_detail/90-860/
88-341 Team Dynamics and Leadership
Fall: 9 units
Much of the work in groups and organizations consists of communication. You communicate to get information that will be the basis of decisions, to provide a vision for the people who work for and with you, to coordinate activity, and to sell yourself and your work. The goal of this course is to identify sources of communication problems within an organization and ways to overcome them. To do this requires that we know how communication normally works, what parts are difficult, and how to fix it when it goes wrong. The focus of this course is on providing you with a broad understanding of the way communication operates within dyads, work groups, and organizations. This course is not a practicum in public speaking or writing, although you will get some experience writing, speaking and managing impressions. Rather the intent is to give you theoretical and empirical underpinnings for the communication you will undoubtedly do when you return to work. Readings come from both the research and the managerial literatures. Among the topics considered are managerial communication, persuasion and conformity, self presentation and person perception, social networks. Cases and group projects give you an opportunity to apply what you've learned.
Prerequisites: 36-220 or 36-225 or 70-207 or 36-217 or 36-201 or 36-247 or 36-207 or 36-200
88-342 The Neuroscience of Decision Making
Intermittent: 9 units
Because we are human, feelings provide the basis for reason and rational decision-making. Consider for example, that brain-damaged patients left devoid of emotion struggle to make the most elementary decisions: while they are able layout the pros and cons of a decision, but they are unable to make the final choice. This course will discuss seminal discoveries in affective neuroscience underlying decision-making.
Prerequisites: 88-120 or 85-211
88-344 Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy
Intermittent: 9 units
Systems Analysis: Environmental Policy provides an introduction to how environmental policies have been and can be designed/created, implemented, and evaluated amidst complex information-based, social, political, and cultural processes. The course emphasizes a systems-based methodological approach for addressing the complexities involved in framing, analyzing, and designing an implementation plan for policy construction. The course also explores through landmark and contemporary case studies several dimensions of environmental policy-making: - Contextual, historical, and structural aspects of environmental policy-making at the local, state, federal, and international levels - Use of quantitative and qualitative analytical tools (from core program + new tools) - The process of how policies derive their meanings.
88-355 Social Brains: Neural Bases of Social Perception and Cognition
Intermittent: 9 units
By some accounts, the large expansion of the human brain evolved due to the complex demands of dealing with social others?competing or cooperating with them, deceiving or empathizing with them, understanding or misjudging them. This discussion-based seminar surveys the emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience and its multi-level approach to understanding the brain in its social context. We will review current theories and methods guiding the field and recent research examining the neural bases of social processes, including: theory of mind, empathy, emotion, morality, among others. We will also discuss broader questions that apply to the specific topics that the course covers, including: What are appropriate levels of description for the target phenomena? How can different disciplines in neuroscience and the social sciences contribute to social neuroscience research? What can we learn from animals? behavior about human social cognition? Do neural systems exist that are specialized for social cognition, or do the systems that participate in social cognition have more general cognitive functions?
Prerequisites: 85-355 or 85-310 or 85-340 or 88-251
88-360 Behavioral Economics
Fall: 9 units
This course introduces students to behavioral economics, an emerging subfield of economics that incorporates insights from psychology and other social sciences into economics. We will examine evidence on how human behavior systematically departs from the standard assumptions of economics, and then investigate attempts by behavioral economists to improve economic analyses.
Prerequisites: (21-120 or 21-112) and (73-100 or 88-220 or 73-102)
88-365 Behavioral Economics and Public Policy
Fall: 9 units
Economics has up to now been the social science that has been most broadly and deeply involved in public policy. With its rational choice perspective, the economic perspective has tended to favor certain types of policies namely those that enhance the efficiency of market mechanisms and lower the cost of information. In this course we will spend the first several classes reviewing the assumptions, implications for public policy and limitations of the rational choice perspective. The remainder of the course will then be devoted to examining different public policy issues, including saving, health care, crime and drug abuse, through the competing lenses of traditional and behavioral economics.
Prerequisites: 73-102 or 73-100 or 88-220
88-366 Behavioral Economics of Poverty and Development
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will introduce students to the study of economic development and poverty alleviation, with a special focus on recent insights from the intersection of psychology and economics. We will primarily focus on the health, microfinance, agriculture, and education sectors in developing countries. The course will have a methodological component largely centered on using experiments to evaluate interventions and policies that apply to households, small firms, and farms. While we will cover standard economic approaches, we will give extra attention to how a behavioral lens can help in both understanding development issues (e.g. barriers to household risk management) and in designing effective interventions (e.g. the timing of fertilizer sales).
Prerequisites: (88-220 or 73-100 or 73-102) and 36-202
88-367 Behavioral Economics & Field Experiments in Organizations
Spring: 9 units
Behavioral Economics is a sub-field of economics that, relying on insights from psychology and decision-making, aspires to describe actual behavior with greater empirical accuracy and psychological realism than that implied by the standard neoclassical model. In this course, we will investigate the success of this approach in explaining ostensible anomalies in the "wild" such as under-savings for retirement, over-consumption of unhealthy food, extreme aversion to losses among investors, workers, and home-owners, the over-confidence of corporate CEOs and NFL general managers, and the influence of emotions on domestic violence, stock market activity, and risk-taking. We will first document and review the underlying theory for three conceptual departures from the standard model -non-standard preferences (e.g., present-bias, reference dependence), non-standard beliefs (e.g., overconfidence, gambler''s fallacy), and non-standard decision-making (e.g., heuristics, emotions, framing effects)-and then quickly move to assess the evidence for these claims in field settings. We will additionally explore how markets respond to behavioral biases, and discuss recent research in behavioral policy with an emphasis on policies aimed at increasing savings, improving food choice, and heightening program take-up and compliance. The course will be paper-centric and we will review a variety of popular empirical methods from field experiments to quasi-experimental approaches (e.g., estimation through regression-based panel analyses, difference-in-differences, and instrumental variables). Student evaluation will be based on a mix of exams, problem sets, written assignments, and class participation.
Prerequisites: 73-102 and 36-202
88-372 Social and Emotional Brain
Intermittent: 9 units
This course provides an introductory survey of the methods and findings in social and affective neuroscience. Half the course is lecture style and covers the basics of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and neuroendocrine systems, as well as a survey of relevant neuroscience methods (neuroimaging, neuropsychological, psychophysiological, transcranial magnetic stimulation, etc.). The other half of the course is more like a seminar, where each week we will discuss a couple seminal empirical papers from the scientific literature. Topics include interpersonal relationships, prosocial behavior, aggression, prejudice, emotion regulation, stress, etc.
Prerequisite: 85-102
88-379 Data-Driven Decision Analysis
Intermittent: 9 units
Business managers and public policymakers who make good decisions are in high demand and are richly rewarded. Increasingly, that decision making must occur in dynamic, data-rich environments. In those environments, having an extensive analytical toolkit is essential for success. Building on the foundations laid by prior coursework, we will cover advanced analytical topics from the decision sciences, such as utility function elicitation, optimal decision making under uncertainty and imperfect information, valuing flexibility with real options, portfolio theory, artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary computation methods, robust decision making, and Monte Carlo simulation and variance reduction methods. The focus of this course is normative, rather than descriptive decision making. The course will make extensive use of Microsoft Excel and students are expected to possess a high level of numeracy upon enrollment. Although we will touch on the theoretical foundations of the material, our primary focus will be on getting our hands dirty by using the techniques covered. The material covered in this class will be taught using real-world problems and place a high value on using messy, often-incomplete real-world data where the strengths and weaknesses of various tools can be evaluated. Assignments in the course will be "case" style, and include applications to subjects such as climate change, corporate investment, energy policy, geoengineering, and health policy risks. Students will evaluate various decision problems in each case and present and defend their analyses.
Prerequisites: (36-207 or 36-200 or 70-207 or 36-225) and (19-301 or 19-351 or 70-257 or 88-223)
88-380 Dynamic Decisions
Intermittent: 9 units
Decisions we make every day may range from simple to highly complex. For example, during driving we make many effortless and routine decisions (judging the distance to the front car, the speed, the directions), while other decisions such as allocating limited time over multiple school projects in the presence of overwhelming distractions may be very complex. These and many of the decisions we make over-time are, however, very similar. The way humans make dynamic decisions depend on individualized experience, cognitive abilities, and their interaction with the particular conditions of the decision environment. In this course, students will understand how decisions are made from experience, in different dynamic situations; how our cognitive processes (e.g., attention, memory, risk tendencies, and other factors), and how the characteristics of the environments (e.g., time constraints, workload, dynamic change) influence the way those decisions are made. Students will use simulations of dynamic systems (e.g., microworlds/decision games) to understand how humans learn and adapt to changing conditions of choice. Students will also learn to construct cause-effects causal loop and stock-and-flow diagrams to represent dynamic systems, and to construct actionable models of those systems using VENSIM-PLE. Students will learn the process of analyzing complex dynamic decision making problems by working on a semester-long project. In a particular case of an accident or a disaster (natural or man-made) in a context (e.g., aviation, management, social issues and others) students will analyze the sources of error, construct causal-loop diagrams, stock and flow diagrams and represent their models in VENSIM-PLE to construct scenarios that help analyze the consequences of potential decisions in the case example. Students will learn to interpret simulation results to provide decision recommendations, in a final report.
Prerequisites: (85-102 or 88-120 or 88-230 or 85-211 or 85-213 or 85-241) and (36-200 or 36-201)
88-388 Psychological Models of Decision Making
Intermittent: 9 units
This course provides an introduction to the techniques and theories for modeling decision making. The topics covered include: signal detection theory, normative and descriptive decision modeling, multidimensional scaling, and diffusion models. The course will include an introduction to the theory behind the models as well as "hands on" computational applications of the models with data. The topics covered in this course can be used in a variety of applied settings-ranging from medical and public policy to marketing and psychological research-to produce simplified representations of seemingly complex phenomena.
Prerequisites: (36-200 or 36-201) and (21-112 or 21-120)
88-397 SDS Undergraduate Research - mini
All Semesters
Students conduct research under the supervision of a Social and amp; Decision Sciences faculty member. Students who wish to engage in research should seek out a faculty member whose interests are appropriate to the research. Prerequisite: Students must also complete an "Independent Study/Research for Credit" form, available from the SDS advisor in Porter 208A. Permission of a faculty sponsor.
88-398 Independent Study
Fall and Spring
Students conduct independent academic study under the supervision of a Social and amp; Decision Sciences faculty member. Students who wish to engage in an independent study should seek out a faculty member whose interests are appropriate to the topic. Students must also complete an "Independent Study/Research for Credit" form, available from the SDS Advisors in Porter 208A and 208G.
88-399 Undergraduate Research
Fall and Spring
Students conduct research under the supervision of a Social and amp; Decision Sciences faculty member. Students who wish to engage in research should seek out a faculty member whose interests are appropriate to the research. Students must also complete an "Independent Study/Research for Credit" form, available from the SDS Advisors in Porter 208A and 208G.
88-405 Risk Perception and Communication
9 units
Throughout their lives, people make decisions about risks that may potentially affect their health, safety, finances, use of technology, and effects on the environment. This course will review the risk perception and communication literature, focusing on theoretical and methodological issues as well as practical implications for educators, public health officials, engineers, economists, and other experts who aim to teach people about risks. We will discuss how to design surveys to increase our understanding of the problems people face when making decisions about specific risks, and how to design communication materials that help people to improve their decisions. We will highlight examples and applications taken from multiple disciplines, including health psychology, adolescent decision making, environmental science, and engineering.
Prerequisites: 36-220 or 36-217 or 36-225 or 36-247 or 36-207 or 70-207 or 36-201
88-406 Behavioral Economics @ Work
Fall: 9 units
Non-profit organizations and businesses are increasingly incorporating insights from behavioral economics and other behavioral sciences into their strategies. This course provides an overview of psychological and economic factors that affect the choices and behavior of individuals within organizations. The course will review empirical research on applications of behavioral insights to a wide range of organizational areas including product pricing, marketing, designing incentives schemes, motivating employees, fundraising, and behavior change. In-class exercises and group projects will supplement the lectures and provide students with hands-on experience in designing solutions to organizations challenges based on behavioral insights. The course emphasizes experimentation as a primary tool for informing organizations decision-making and accurately measuring the effectiveness of behavioral interventions.
Prerequisites: 73-102 or 73-100 or 88-220
88-411 Rise of the Asian Economies
Intermittent: 9 units
For most of the past quarter century, no region of the world has been more economically dynamic than Asia. This course is designed to provide students with the essential knowledge necessary to evaluate opportunities and risks in Asia. The course will use analytical tools drawn from economics and finance, business cases, and guest lectures to focus on the key strengths that sustained economic growth in East Asia for decades, the weaknesses that undermined that growth in the late 1990s, and what lies ahead. The course will also examine Indian economic growth since the early 1980s, and compare India's experience with that of the East Asian economies. A special focus will be placed on recent developments in India and China and the prospects for continued growth in those countries over the next decade.
Prerequisites: 73-100 or 73-150 or 73-102 or 88-220
88-415 Science and Innovation Leadership for the 21st Century: Firms, Nations, and Tech
Fall: 9 units
Science and Innovation Leadership for the 21st Century introduces students to the fundamental principles surrounding global competitiveness and technological change in the 21st century. The course is broken into three sections. The first section introduces students to competing economic, sociological, and political science theories on the structures supporting technological change. The second section presents the contemporary literature on technological change. The concluding section leverages lessons from the preceding two sections to evaluate national innovation systems, and the factors that lead to national comparative advantage. Students should leave the class able to reflect competently on what the existing literature tells us about the factors influencing global technology competitiveness, and on how modern changes in the structures supporting innovation as well as technology itself may be changing the rules of the game for firms and for nations. The course is open to undergraduate juniors and seniors.
88-418 Negotiation: Strategies and Behavioral Insights
Fall: 9 units
Negotiation is a critical skill that is essential for success in today's world. Decision-makers use negotiation to reach agreements with co-workers, bosses, clients, service providers, subordinates, firms, family, roommates, and friends. Regardless of one's career path, learning how to negotiate effectively is important. This course provides a systematic and insightful approach to negotiation - the art and science of securing agreements between interdependent parties. Through experiential exercises, students will learn to analyze the features of the negotiation environment, develop an understanding of effective negotiation strategies and tactics, and identify the behavioral barriers and psychological factors that may prevent decision-makers from reaching wise agreements. The exercises, which feature negotiations in a variety of contexts including business negotiations, salary negotiations, interpersonal negotiations, and team negotiations, are designed to provide students with an opportunity to practice new strategies in a low-risk environment, receive feedback, and apply new knowledge to subsequent exercises. In-class discussions and lectures will complement the exercises, allowing students to explore and apply theoretical concepts to practical scenarios. This course is appropriate for students of any major who are interested in refining their negotiation skills.
88-419 International Negotiation
Fall: 9 units
Negotiation is a process in which two or more parties undertake a process to resolve conflicting interests. Decision makers use negotiation in a variety of circumstances to reach agreements among countries, among employers and employees, among firms, and among family and friends. International section: The objective of this course is to understand the process of negotiations and how the structure of the negotiation environment affects the outcomes achieved. Students will learn to analyze the features of the negotiation environment, develop an understanding of effective negotiation strategies, and identify the barriers to reaching wise agreements. This course will focus on negotiations in primarily international contexts.
88-435 Decision Science and Policy
Spring: 9 units
Research in the social sciences has extensively investigated how decision makers behave when they encounter many different and difficult decision scenarios. This course serves as an introduction to how relevant research from decision and social sciences can be applied to policy questions encountered by governments (intelligence and policy analysts) and private industry (business strategists and information officers). Topics of operations research, game theory, signal detection theory, and decision theory (heuristics and biases) will be discussed with respect to the application of these theories to improve the performance of individuals and groups within these organizations.
88-444 Public Policy and Regulations
Intermittent: 9 units
Regulations are critical in determining how our society works. How we decide to run our economy, take care of our health, and sustain our environment are all determined through regulations. Everything that you encounter on a daily basis has some regulation lurking behind the scenes. Trying to understand why things are the way they are without understanding the importance, functioning, and limits of regulatory policy is impossible. Despite their importance, regulations are not in the US Constitution. In fact, much to the dismay of some citizens, the "Administrative bureaucracy" that runs the regulatory process is often referred to as the fourth branch of government (on par with the other three: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial). This course will introduce a range of topics related regulatory policies and provide numerous case studies to motivate discussions and comprehension.
88-451 Policy Analysis Senior Project
Spring: 12 units
Students in this course apply the research and analytical methods learned in their other courses to a real-world problem. Students decide how to structure the problem, divide into teams responsible for its different parts, identify and analyze relevant literature, collect data, synthesize their results, and present their conclusions in oral and written form to a review panel of individuals concerned with the problem. Faculty members help them along the way. Performance is based on students' contribution to the process and substance of the class, as observed by the faculty and by their fellow students. One or two such projects is offered every term. A complete list of previous topics is available from the department. Course is open only to seniors in SDS.
88-452 Policy Analysis Senior Project
Fall: 12 units
Students in this course apply the research and analytical methods learned in their other courses to a real-world problem. Students decide how to structure the problem, divide into teams responsible for its different parts, identify and analyze relevant literature, collect data, synthesize their results, and present their conclusions in oral and written form to a review panel of individuals concerned with the problem. Faculty members help them along the way. Performance is based on students' contribution to the process and substance of the class, as observed by the faculty and by their fellow students. One or two such projects is offered every term. A complete list of previous topics is available from the department. Course is open only to seniors in SDS.
88-453 Behavioral Economics Capstone
Spring: 9 units
The Capstone in Behavioral Economics, Policy, and Organizations will work to apply the theories, concepts, and statistical techniques mastered in prior courses to an applied project. Students will work closely both in teams and individually with the instructor on a project that will address a problem posed by an organization or government that behavioral economics can help to solve. Students will work to structure the problem, design an intervention or study, collect and analyze the data, and make recommendations for implementation. Students will manage the project and drive interactions with the client organization.
88-454 Decision Science Capstone
Fall and Spring: 9 units
The Capstone in Decision Science is a seminar that applies the theories, concepts, and statistical techniques mastered in prior courses to an applied project. Students will work closely both in teams and individually with the instructor on a project that will address an applied problem that decision science can help to solve. Students will work to structure the problem, define a focused research question, design a study that addresses the question, collect and analyze the data, and make policy or practice recommendations based on the findings. Students will manage the project, drive the scientific question and approach, and make a formal presentation to a panel of experts.
Prerequisite: 88-302
88-499 Advanced Undergraduate Research
Fall and Spring
Students conduct research at an advanced level under the supervision of a Social and amp; Decision Sciences faculty member. Students who wish to engage in advanced research should seek out a faculty member whose interests are appropriate to the research. Students must also complete an "Independent Study/Research for Credit" form, available from the SDS Advisors in Porter 208A and 208G.
88-505 Undergraduate Internship
All Semesters
An internship is an approved and monitored work experience than can be related to an academic field of study through active reflection and specific learning goals. Students must work at least 10 hours per week for the semester at the internship. Additionally, students will also keep in regular contact with a faculty member in Social and Decision Sciences, who will assign and evaluate academic work. Internships are available for 1-9 units, depending on the type and amount of academic work produced. Students are responsible for finding their own internships and faculty sponsors, although assistance is available in the department. Students must also complete an "Internship Learning Agreement" form, available from the SDS Advisors in Porter 208H and 208G.

Faculty

LINDA BABCOCK, James Mellon Walton Professor of Economics and Department Head – Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison; Carnegie Mellon, 1988–

GRETCHEN CHAPMAN , Professor of Psychology – Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania ; Carnegie Mellon, 2017–

ERIN CARBONE, Visiting Assistant Professor – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Mellon, 2023–

SIMON DEDEO, Associate Professor of Social and Decision Sciences – Ph.D., Princeton University; Carnegie Mellon, 2017–

JULIE DOWNS, Professor of Psychology – Ph.D., Princeton University; Carnegie Mellon, 1995–

PAUL S. FISCHBECK, Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy – Ph.D., Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon, 1990–

CHRISTINA FONG, Senior Research Scientist – Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Carnegie Mellon, 2001–

RUSSELL GOLMAN, Associate Professor of Behavioral Economics and Decision Science – Ph.D., The University of Michigan; Carnegie Mellon, 2010–

CLEOTILDE GONZALEZ, Research Professor of Information and Decision Sciences – Ph.D., Texas Tech University; Carnegie Mellon, 2000–

KEVIN JARBO, Assistant Professor – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Mellon, 2021–

MARK S. KAMLET, University Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Provost Emeritus – Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon, 1978–

GEORGE F. LOEWENSTEIN, Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology – Ph.D., Yale University; Carnegie Mellon, 1990–

JOHN H. MILLER, Professor of Economics and Social Science – Ph.D., The University of Michigan; Carnegie Mellon, 1989–

LINDA MOYA, Distinguished Service Professor – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Mellon, 2016–

DANEIL OPPENHEIMER, Professor of Psychology – Ph.D., Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon, 2017–

MARK PATTERSON, Assistant Teaching Professor – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Mellon, 2019–

SILVIA SACCARDO, Associate Professor of Economics – Ph.D., University of California, San Diego; Carnegie Mellon, 2016–

PETER SCHWARDMANN, Assistant Professor – Ph.D., Toulouse School of Economics; Carnegie Mellon, 2021–

MANASVINI SINGH, Assistant Professor – Ph.D., Emory University; Carnegie Mellon, 2023–

Affiliated Faculty

LINDA ARGOTE, David and Barbara Kirr Professor of Organizational Behavior – Ph.D., University of Michigan; Carnegie Mellon, 1979–

LEE BRANSTETTER, Professor of Economics and Public Policy – Ph.D., Harvard University; Carnegie Mellon, 2006–

KATHLEEN M. CARLEY, Professor of Sociology – Ph.D., Harvard University; Carnegie Mellon, 1984–

ROSALIND CHOW, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory – Ph.D., Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon, 2008–

TAYA COHEN, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory and Carnegie Bosch Junior Faculty Chair – Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Carnegie Mellon, 2008–

DENNIS N. EPPLE, Professor of Economics – Ph.D., Princeton University; Carnegie Mellon, 1974–

JEFFREY GALAK, Associate Professor of Marketing – Ph.D., New York University; Carnegie Mellon, 2009–

JOSEPH B. KADANE, Leonard J. Savage University Professor of Statistics and Social Science – Ph.D., Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon, 1969–

SARAH B. KIESLER, Professor – Ph.D., The Ohio State University; Carnegie Mellon, 1979–

DAVID M. KRACKHARDT, Professor of Organizations and Public Policy – Ph.D., University of California, Irvine; Carnegie Mellon, 1991–

ROBERT E. KRAUT, Hebert A. Simon Professor of Human Computer Interaction – Ph.D., Yale University; Carnegie Mellon, 1993–

YUCHEN LIANG, Assistant Professor of Accounting – Ph.D. , Stanford University; Carnegie Mellon, 2020–

TONG (JOY) LU, Assistant Professor of Marketing – Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Carnegie Mellon, 2018–

CHRIS OLIVOLA, Associate Professor of Marketing – Ph.D., Princeton University; Carnegie Mellon, 2013–

JOEL TARR, Richard S. Caliguiri University Professor of History and Policy – Ph.D., Northwestern University; Carnegie Mellon, 1967–

Emeritus Faculty

DAVID A. HOUNSHELL, David M. Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change – Ph.D., University of Delaware; Carnegie Mellon, 1991–

Adjunct Faculty

MATTHEW MEHALIK, Adjunct Instructor – Ph.D., University of Virginia; Carnegie Mellon, 2008–

MARY JO MILLER – J.D., Duquesne University; Carnegie Mellon, 1999–

DAVID RODE, Adjunct Instructor – Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; Carnegie Mellon, 2022–

Back to top