# Research scoping discussion spaces

*15 Aug 2023*: We are organizing some meetings and working groups, and building some private spaces ... where we are discussing 'which specified research themes and papers/projects we should prioritize for UJ evaluation.'

This is guided by concerns we discuss in other sections (e.g., '[what research to target](/the-unjournal-project-and-communication-space/policies-projects-evaluation-workflow/considering-projects/what-research-to-target.md)', '[what is global priorities relevant research](/the-unjournal-project-and-communication-space/the-field-and-ea-gp-research.md)')

Research we prioritize, and short comments and ratings on its prioritization is currently maintained in our Airtable database (under 'crucial\_research'). We consider 'who covers and monitors what' (in our core team) in the 'mapping\_work' table). This exercise suggested some loose teams and projects. I link some (private) Gdocs for those project discussions below. We aim to make a useful discussion version/interface public when this is feasible.

{% hint style="info" %}
Team members and field specialists: You should have access to a Google Doc called *"Unjournal Field Specialists+: Proposed division (discussion), meeting notes",* where we are dividing up the monitoring and prioritization work.
{% endhint %}

*Some of the content in the sections below will overlap.*

## General discussions of prioritization

[Unjournal: Which research? How to prioritize/process it?](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ei-3t2bUazjlBOIg8chLxOrz_sXl_osAzrLU4hO1wDk/edit#heading=h.lb7kfao9mvkc)

## Development economics, global health, adjacent

1. [NBER, CEPR, etc: 'Who covers what'?](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bc6Brx8Sa_AeQIw9nzuwxR-ec9MEZqRI1QpJeyxIaN0/edit#heading=h.3rvaetw2buny)
2. 'Impactful, Neglected, Evaluation-Tractable' work in the global health & RCT-driven intervention-relevant part of development economics
3. Mental health and happiness; HLI suggestions
4. Givewell specific recommendations and projects
5. Governance/political science
6. Global poverty: Macro, institutions, growth, market structure
7. Evidence-based policy organizations, their own assessments and syntheses (e.g., 3ie)
8. How to consider and incorporate adjacent work in epidemiology and medicine

## Economics as a field, sub-areas

1. Syllabi (and \~agendas): Economics and global priorities (and adjacent work)
2. Microeconomic theory and its applications? When/what to consider?

## Animal welfare

1. The economics of animal welfare (market-focused; 'ag econ'), implications for policy
2. Attitudes towards animals/animal welfare; behavior change and 'go veg' campaigns
3. Impact of political and corporate campaigns

## The environment

1. Environmental economics and policy

## Psychology and 'attitudes/behavioral'

1. [Unjournal/Psychology research: discussion group](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eSt9gLHPd-pM4P-OQdWs2VDhVStIqEyFAi77QNbi-Jk/edit#heading=h.xwbv4lj2051e): How can UJ source and evaluate credible work in psychology? What to cover, when, who, with what standards...
2. Moral psychology/psychology of altruism and moral circles

## Innovation, scientific progress, technology

1. Innovation, R\&D, broad technological progress
2. Meta-science and scientific productivity
3. Social impact of AI (and other technology)
4. Techno-economic analysis of impactful products (e.g., cellular meat, geo-engineering)

## Catastrophic risks (economics, social science, policy)

1. Pandemics and other biological risks
2. Artificial intelligence; AI governance and strategy (is this in the UJ wheelhouse?)
3. International cooperation and conflict

## Applied research/Policy research stream

See [discussion here](https://globalimpact.gitbook.io/the-unjournal-project-and-communication-space/management-tech-details-discussion/policies-issues-discussion#policy-work-not-mainly-intended-for-academic-audiences).\\

## Other

1. Long term population, growth, macroeconomics
2. Normative/welfare economics and philosophy (should we cover this?)
3. Empirical methods (should we consider some highly-relevant subset, e.g., meta-analysis?)


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