CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL POLICY DECISIONMAKING IS INADEQUATE FOR THE LATE 20TH CENTURY. METHODS AND UNDERLYING CONCEPTS OF A BETTER APPROACH ARE SUGGESTED. PARAMETERS OF AN ENLIGHTENED SOCIAL DECISIONMAKING PROCESS ARE A HUMANITARIAN VALUE ORIENTATION, AN ACTIVE SOCIAL ROLE FOR THE SCIENTIST, INNOVATIVE, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION, A PROBLEM-ORIENTED FOCUS, ADEQUATE INFERENCES, CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF PROBLEM SOLUTIONS, AND USABLE PROBLEM SOLUTIONS. THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS OF APPLYING SCIENTIFIC METHODS TO THIS PROCESS ARE EXPLORED IN DETAIL: INTEGRATING SCIENCE INTO SOCIAL POLICY DECISIONS (EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL INNOVATION), DISSEMINATING SIGNIFICANT PARAMETERS OF SOCIAL MODELS, DEFINING SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND PLANNING FOR SOLUTIONS, FORMING A RESEARCH TEAM, OBTAINING ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR THE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH, SELECTING RESEARCH CONDITIONS AND MAKING THEM COMPARABLE, DEFINING THE POPULATION TO BE STUDIED AND OBTAINING A SAMPLE, MEASURING IMPORTANT PARAMETERS IDENTIFIED IN THE RESEARCH DESIGN, ADMINISTERING THE RESEARCH PROGRAM, COMPARING EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS, UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL PROCESSES, MAKING PERMISSIBLE INFERENCES FROM RESEARCH FINDINGS AND PUBLICIZING THEM, AND DEVELOPING AN INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING. REFERENCES AND AN INDEX ARE INCLUDED.