The public isn't bored with economists, management scholars and sociologists but engaging people has conditions

For years, we've been told a familiar story: Social scientists such as economists, management scholars and sociologists talk, and the public shrugs.

The claim goes that people don't find our work interesting, that our expertise is fuzzy compared with "hard" sciences, and that journalists and readers will always prefer the crisp authority of practitioners such as CEOs, consultants or politicians.

Is that really true? ...