At the end of the 20th century, the most important problems facing the social sciences span disciplinary boundaries. Carnegie Mellon's Department of Social and Decision Sciences addresses several of these key intellectual challenges on an interdisciplinary basis. Our teaching and research mission involves individuals, groups, organizations, markets, and governments. We seek to understand how they work, how they change, how technology affects them, and how they might be made to work better. These challenges are addressed in four programs of study leading to the Ph.D. Scholars from several disciplines and with diverse substantive interests approach their scholarly enterprises with a common commitment to scientific method and to quantitative and analytical research. The SDS graduate program is a small one emphasizing empirical and multi-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. A typical cohort would have four students. One hallmark of the program is that it is research-centered. The small size of the program makes it possible for students to work closely with faculty on diverse projects and to engage in research during their first year of graduate school. A second hallmark of the program is its flexibility. Students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse interests are encouraged to engage in a program of study and research that matches their needs and interests.

The following four programs represent basic options for graduate training in SDS. The first two, Behavioral Decision Research and Organizations, are long-standing themes in our program. The third, Technological Change and Industrial Evolution, is newly organized as a formal field, but several Ph.D.s have been trained in this area in recent years. Political Psychology and Economy is a newer theme in this department, which is picking up a long and distinguished Carnegie Mellon tradition that has previously been led by other units on campus. These four programs cover a broad range of social science topics at increasing levels of aggregation from individual behavior to organizations to industries to national or international societies. The final listed option is the Research and Mentoring program. It is also possible for a student to put together an individually tailored program with other groupings of our faculty that are not suggested here.  Additionally, SDS has collaborated with the Psychology Department in offering a new program leading to a PhD in Psychology and Behavioral Decision Research.

All of these programs benefit directly and indirectly from faculty and courses elsewhere at Carnegie Mellon, such as the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management (Heinz), the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA), the Department of Psychology, the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) and several departments at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). Following each program is an illustrative list of courses that are offered. A student's course program will typically involve four courses in a major field, two in another field, and four methods courses tailored to his or her specific substantive interest. Courses in a specific discipline at Carnegie Mellon or Pitt may be used to enhance employability in mainline departments.

Note that the following four fields are interdisciplinary in several senses. The faculty in each field includes scholars trained in more than one discipline, and many faculty are participants in more than one of our programs. Many of our faculty have published in more than one discipline.