How does the APPAM office assign proposals to categories?
The office looks for the main contribution of the research in the proposal. If that contribution fits with the category you selected, then the category will not be changed. If the contribution seems to pertain to a different category, then the office may reassign the proposal to a new category. For example, a paper submitted to “quantitative methods” that does not seem to develop or evaluate new methods may be reassigned to the substantive area to which a method is applied (e.g., employment/training). A paper submitted to “welfare/workfare” that evaluates the impact of welfare reform on family circumstances or children’s well-being may be assigned to “social and family policy” or “child policy.” The program committee may also transfer proposals to other categories during its review of the submissions. The program committee will know both the original category that you chose for your proposal, and the category assigned to it by the APPAM office. Here are some brief descriptions of the c
