Thanks for your comment. I agree that lots of factors impact outcomes. I can't speak for social scientists, but I think they tend to focus on a handful of variables because they've learned which things impact outcomes the most and because good data is available for those things. Researchers like Raj Chetty are starting to look at a broader set of variables. Here's a link to the Opportunity Insights project he leads at Harvard:
Thanks for your comment. I agree that lots of factors impact outcomes. I can't speak for social scientists, but I think they tend to focus on a handful of variables because they've learned which things impact outcomes the most and because good data is available for those things. Researchers like Raj Chetty are starting to look at a broader set of variables. Here's a link to the Opportunity Insights project he leads at Harvard:
https://opportunityinsights.org/
Here's a Brookings piece that highlights their work on friendship and economic mobility:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/7-key-takeaways-from-chettys-new-research-on-friendship-and-economic-mobility/