[SSPS Roster]

The Social Sciences and Population Studies [SSPS] Study Section reviews applications related to population processes, composition and distribution, their antecedents and consequences, and their inter-relationships with social, cultural, economic, behavioral, developmental and biomedical factors and processes. This includes studies of migration, mortality and health, residential distribution, reproduction, sexual health, population aging, labor force and retirement, household and family structure, intergenerational relations, and biodemography in the U.S. and other countries. It also includes the development and validation of methodologies for population research, including estimation and projection, formal and mathematical demography, modeling and simulation, qualitative and ethnographic methods, and measurement, design, and statistical analysis. Studies of gender, race and ethnicity as they relate to population processes are included.

Specific areas covered by SSPS: 

• Migration, emigration and immigration, including movement of people within and across national boundaries; social, cultural, economic, behavioral, and health factors and processes associated with population movement; processes related to migration [e.g., acculturation, adaptation]; interstate, intercity, local migration and residential distribution; refugee movements.
  
  
• Family and household, including living arrangements, intergenerational relations, co-residence, marriage, cohabitation, divorce, single-parent families, child care, sexual unions, roles of men, women and children within households and families, including parental and family investments in children and child well-being.
  
  
• Population aging, including interrelationships with demographic and social processes, household and family structure, economic status and inequality, health status, intergenerational exchanges and bequests, and impacts on public programs; economics of aging
  
  
• Fertility, including studies of conception, pregnancy, birth, and pregnancy outcomes; contraceptive use and sexual behavior; infertility; birth spacing and timing; birth intentions; value of children; interrelationships with the status and roles of women and men, health, union formation and dissolution, and other related social, cultural, economic, behavioral, and biological processes.
  
  
• Mortality, health, functioning and disability; differentials, trends and projections for individuals, groups and populations; studies of perinatal, infants, child, adult and elderly health and mortality; interrelationships with demographic, social, economic, behavioral, and biobehavioral processes; health economics.
  
  
• Biodemography; interrelationships of biological, genetic, evolutionary, and ecological factors with life history patterns and population processes, composition and distribution; comparison of life histories and population processes, composition and distribution between humans and other species
  
  
• Sexual health; population-based studies of sexually-transmitted diseases, sexual risk taking and prevention behaviors, sexual networks, and sexual partnerships; studies of social, biosocial, cultural, economic, and behavioral aspects in individuals, groups and society
  
  
• Employment, labor force and retirement; social, cultural, economic and behavioral antecedents and consequences for working-age and dependent men and women, groups and society; studies of interrelationships with health, migration, family and household structure, disability, functioning, social and economic status, impact of public and private programs such as social security on labor force transitions and income security of the elderly
  
  
• Population size, composition, and structure; race and ethnic composition; population composition by age, sex, nativity, and other demographic characteristics.
  
  
• Population and the environment; interrelationships between population processes and the physical environment.  

SSPS has the following shared interests within the HOP IRG: 

• With Biostatistical Methods and Research Design [BMRD]:  BMRD also reviews applications that focus on population processes and their inter-relationships with socioenvironmental and biomedical factors and processes. Applications in which the primary emphasis is the development of new statistical methodology or the improvement of existing research designs may be reviewed by BMRD.
  
  
• With Community Influences on Health Behavior [CIHB] and Community-Level Health Promotion [CLHP]: CLHP and CIHB also review applications that focus upon high-risk behavior, that are multi-level, or that emphasize the relationships between socioenvironmental factors and health related behavior. Applications that emphasize determination of health status at the community level or that emphasize behavior related to family structure, human reproduction, or population mobility may be reviewed in SSPS. Those that emphasize community-based interventions may be reviewed in CLHP unless they involve STDs or contraceptive behavior as outcome variables. The latter may be reviewed in SSPS.
  
  
• With Cardiovascular and Sleep Epidemiology [CASE], Epidemiology of Cancer [EPIC]; Infectious Diseases, Reproductive Health, Asthma and Pulmonary Conditions [IRAP[; Kidney, Nutrition, Obesity and Diabetes [KNOD]; and Neurological, Aging and Musculoskeletal Epidemiology [NAME]: These study sections also review applications dealing with the incidence and prevalence of morbidity and mortality related to various health conditions and to behavioral risk factors. Applications relating levels of morbidity and mortality may be reviewed in SSPS.  Applications that rely primarily upon epidemiologic methods or that are intended primarily to estimate the prevalence or incidence of a health condition may be reviewed in CASE, EPIC, IRAP, KNOD or NAME, depending upon the condition(s) being studied.   
  
       
• With the Health Services Organization and Delivery [HSOD]: HSOD also reviews applications containing health economics. Applications in which the primary emphasis is upon the organization or delivery of health-related services may be reviewed by HSOD.
  
  
• With Nursing Science: Adults and Aging [NSAA] and Nursing Science: Children and Families [NSCF]: NSAA and NSCF also review applications that focus on population processes and their inter-relationships with socioenvironmental and biomedical factors and processes. Applications in which the primary emphasis is upon nursing care and research relating to nursing interventions in patient care may be reviewed by NSAA or NSCF, depending upon the age groups being studied. 

SSPS has the following shared interests outside the HOP IRG: 

• With the Genes, Genomes and Genetics [GGG] IRG: SSPS has shared interests with the GGG IRG. Applications that focus on population genetics could be reviewed in GGG. Applications that focus on non-genetic population processes could be reviewed in SSPS.
  
  
• With the Biology and Development of Aging [BDA] IRG: Applications with a primary focus on physiologic or biological processes could be reviewed by BDA when an aging population is specifically studied. Applications with a primary emphasis upon the behavioral, social or demographic aspects of aging could be reviewed by SSPS.
  
  
• With the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRG: SSPS may review applications related to population processes, composition and distribution, and the development and validation of methodologies for population research, including measurement, design, and statistical analysis. Other statistical methodology applications could be reviewed by the BST IRG or by BMRD, depending upon whether applications involves development of new [BMRD] or use of existing statistical and methodological [BST] techniques.
  
  
• With the Risk, Prevention and Health Behavior [RPHB] IRG:  Studies of marital and family interactions, processes, and social development that exclude an emphasis on demographic processes may be reviewed in the RPHB IRG. SSPS may review demographic and economic studies of marriage and family behavior, including those that consider child health and well-being outcomes.
  
  
• With the Biobehavioral and Behavioral Processes [BBBP] IRG: Biobehavioral and behavioral applications that emphasize issues related to population processes and biodemography may be reviewed by SSPS.  Biobehavioral and behavioral applications that emphasize individual or small group processes may be reviewed by BBBP.
  
  
• With the Cardiovascular Sciences [CVS] IRG: Applications in which the primary outcomes are population studies related to demographics or health economics may generally be assigned to SSPS. Applications on cardiovascular diseases, disorders, or functional consequences of behaviors could be assigned to the CVS IRG.
  
  
• With the Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nutrition and Reproductive Sciences [EMNR] IRG: The EMNR IRG also reviews applications to study human reproduction, reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes. Studies that focus on the relationship between these and socio-demographic factors, including population studies may be referred to SSPS. Applications on diseases, disorders, or functional consequences of behaviors related to reproduction could be assigned to the EMNR IRG.
  
  
• With the Digestive Sciences [DIG] IRG: Applications in which the primary outcomes are population studies related to demographics or health economics may generally be assigned to SSPS. Applications on digestive diseases, disorders, or functional consequences of behaviors could be assigned to the DIG IRG.