He is also part of the Social Lab at the Institute of Policy Studies. He received his PhD in Sociology from Cornell University, USA. He is the author of “Does Class Matter?” (2004) and “Class and Social Orientations” (2015). He is also co-investigator of Asian Barometer-Singapore, World Values Survey-Singapore, and the Singapore Panel Study on Social Dynamics. Dr Tan has served as a research consultant to government ministries. He is a research advisor to the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and Chairman of the Housing Development Board's Research Advisory Panel. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2013.