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Research

A field begins with questions it is willing to answer carefully.

The Institute’s programme is at an early stage. Its immediate work is conceptual, comparative and methodological: define the field, test whether it adds value, and establish the limits of responsible application.

Current programme

Four areas of development.

These are research intentions and open workstreams, not completed studies or evidence of impact.

Conceptual foundations

Clarify definitions and proposed relationships among required outcomes, task demands, behavioural patterns, friction, support, execution and performance evidence.

Adjacent-field review

Map overlap and difference across behavioural science, psychology, human factors, implementation science, ergonomics and systems thinking without renaming established work.

Methods and measurement

Develop proportionate ways to describe behavioural patterns, task demands and friction; observe execution; and distinguish practical signal from causal evidence.

Ethics and governance

Build explicit principles for autonomy, consent, equity, privacy, contestability and the detection of unintended effects.

Research questions

Questions before claims.

Does the field identify a distinctive problem?

The Institute must establish whether linking individual behavioural patterns, execution conditions and measurable outcomes offers explanatory or practical value beyond existing disciplines.

Can patterns and demands be described consistently?

A field requires concepts that can be applied across settings without becoming so broad that every design decision qualifies. Operational definitions are a priority.

What evidence supports which claim?

Practical observation, self-report, implementation evidence and causal evaluation answer different questions. The field needs reporting standards that keep those distinctions visible.

When should an intervention not proceed?

Not every desired behaviour or performance outcome is legitimate. The field needs explicit boundaries for power, manipulation, consent, privacy and uneven impact.

Current publications

Working papers.

Published to support critique and further research; none has been peer reviewed.