Military Operations Research Society (MORS)

Social Science Community of Practice

Draft Charter

Emerging security challenges in the 21^st Century, such as human migration, pandemic disease, global climate change, natural resource shortages, and terrorism, require the Military Operations Research Society (MORS) to broaden its analytical portfolio.  Since these challenges are best understood through the spectrum of human interaction, not kinetic action, the knowledgebase and approaches used by the social science disciplines will be a critical tool for addressing these ever evolving challenges.  The leadership of MORS seeks to integrate social scientists and their expertise into these discussions by organizing a Social Science Community of Practice (COP). 

The MORS Social Science Community of Practice will:

1.      Promote the sharing within the MORS community of the results from social science research and analysis.  Topics of interest and core competencies will include:

a.       A framework for understanding emerging security challenges

b.      Data collection methods

c.       Approaches to incorporate proven social science methodologies into military  analyses

d.      Recording insights and lessons learned from prior analyses and from the experiences of the social science communities, and

e.       Drawing on experts in the social sciences to create an institutionalized knowledge base.

2.      Serve as a liaison between the national security communities, MORS, and the social sciences.  Liaison activities include:

a.       Monitor national security issues to identify those best addressed through the application of social science methodologies,

b.      Share new research in the social sciences that may have application in the national security arena

c.       Provide to the MORS sponsors a list of qualified individuals who can conduct peer reviews and sit on committees,

d.      Report to the MORS leadership and the MORS sponsors on the status of the COP

3.      Meet through a variety of forums, including:

a.       A physical meeting within Working Group 32, Warfighting Performance and Social Methods, at the MORS annual symposium,

b.      A series of teleconferences and MORS workshops, and

c.       A website for posting electronic discussions of issues.