Prioritisation researchExploratory research on how to do the most good
Why work on prioritisation research?
The reality of our limitations – of time, money and ability – means we can’t do everything we’d like to do to improve the world. Despite good intentions, there are vast differences in the impact we expect different actions to have in improving the world. There is a huge opportunity cost to just picking an endeavour (including your thesis topic!) just because it seems to be net-positive. These differences between the good and the better or best are so great, and our strategies for navigating them so underdeveloped, that improving our understanding of how to prioritise is hugely important.
Applying techniques from economics, maths and social science, prioritisation researchers seek insights that will inform people and organisations on how best to direct their efforts in order to do the most good. There are a couple of different ways to approach this.
Foundational prioritisation research explores high-level issues such as whether we can predictably affect the long-term future, how to think about the indirect effects of our efforts to improve the world, what different value systems say about what it means to do good, and crucial considerations such as animal sentience.
Cause prioritisation research looks more closely at which causes we should focus on given our foundational understanding of what it means to do good – for example, cause prioritisation research might involve evaluating whether it seems more pressing to work on climate change reduction or preventing great power conflict, or how promising mental health interventions seem.
We also include the category ‘understanding progress and change’ within prioritisation research. These research directions generally focus on understanding how change occurs so that we can better understand what strategies will effect change, which could be useful across a range of causes. This could involve understanding what makes social movements more effective, how to increase the progress of research and how changes in our values today may affect the future.
There is currently a dearth of prioritisation research. Such research has a lot of potential leverage: an insight gained could influence the allocation of billions of dollars and the areas to which many great minds are applied.
Next steps
- You could explore the work of research organisations like the Global Priorities Institute, Charity Entrepreneurship, Open Philanthropy, Rethink Priorities, Happier Lives Institute, CEARCH and Social Change Lab.
- Read 80,000 Hours’ post on Global Priorities Research.
- Read this report on Exploratory Altruism from Charity Entrepreneurship.
Some research agendas including questions relevant to prioritisation research are:
- The Global Priorities Institute’s research agenda
- The Sentience Institute’s research agenda
- Psychology for Effectively Improving the Future
- The Legal Priorities Project’s research agenda.
- Faunalytics’ research agenda
- These research priorities from the Forethought Foundation
Explore our research direction profiles below for many more questions.
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Contributors
This introduction was last updated 13/06/2023. Thanks to Will Fenning for originally writing this introduction. Learn more about how we create our profiles.
Explore recommended research directions in this category
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If you are interested in a profile that isn't listed under your discipline, we still encourage you to explore it if you think you could make progress in this direction. You can also explore all our recommended directions organised by theme.
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Attitudes to existential risk and longtermism
To increase the chance of our species having a flourishing future, it’s helpful to understand how we feel and reason about the future of humanity
Charitable donations decision-making research
Charitable donations can do a lot of good, but donors rarely prioritise their impact. How can we encourage more effective philanthropy?
Forecasting the long-term future
To reliably improve the longterm future, we must address the challenge of predicting the longterm impact of our actions.
Global priorities research
There are many neglected, foundational uncertainties about what it means to improve the world and what actions we should take to do so.
Historical persistence and contingency
Improving predictions of the extent to which important features of the world today will persist into the future, and how contingent the future is on the actions we take in the present, could help inform attempts to create long-lasting positive change.
Improving health and wellbeing metrics
Current health and wellbeing metrics have many shortcomings, leading to misallocation of resources. Developing the 'WELBY' could help.
Longtermism
Is improving the far future one of the key moral priorities of our time? If it is, how should this influence our actions?
Moral circle expansion
How can we expand humanity's moral circle to create a more compassionate future?
Moral weight research
Foundational research exploring animals’ experiences and moral standing could help prioritize animal welfare interventions.
Most important historical trends
A better understanding of historical trends and what they tell us about humanity's trajectory could inform efforts to improve and prepare for the future.
Progress studies
Advances in science, technology, institutions and culture have caused huge improvements in standards of living. How can we increase the rate of progress?
Understanding the impact of social movements
Social movements can significantly improve the world. What factors determine the change a social movement achieves?
Where next?
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How to create a theory of change for your research
A theory of change is a step by step plan for how you’ll achieve impact with your research project. We think this is one of the most important things you can do to increase the value of your research.