sentences:  ISERP organizes an active intellectual community at Columbia University through its Faculty Fellows program, research centers, projects, and training initiatives.ISERP is the direct descendant of the Bureau of Applied Social Research (BASR), established at Columbia University in 1944 by sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld.One of the first social science institutes in the nation, the Bureau made landmark contributions to communications research, public opinion polling, organizational studies, and social science methodology.