Welcome to the Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences

Exterior of IRiSS office building

Our Mission

Data-Driven Discovery for the Social Sciences

Expanding access to novel data sources, the development of powerful computing tools, and innovation in quantitative and qualitative research methods are opening a new frontier for social scientists to explore bold, inventive research questions.  In this era of burgeoning social-science research, the Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS) facilitates first-rate interdisciplinary collaborations, trains the next generation of scholars, and incubates medium- to long-term research projects to address critical social challenges. IRiSS ensures that world-class, evidence-based research is produced to meet evolving problems in areas of governance and democracy, economic inequality, immigration policy, and other social issues that affect communities across the globe.

Center for American Democracy

Center for Global Ethnography

Center on Poverty and Inequality

Center for Computational Social Science

Immigration Policy Lab