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Post Doctoral Scholar Position
Apr 3, 2020
JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS: The Population Research Institute (PRI) at The Pennsylvania State University (University Park) anticipates an 1-2 openings for a postdoctoral fellow in the NICHD-supported Social Environments and Population Health training program, starting on or about…
Podcast episode explores how the Census impacts public health
Apr 3, 2020
Decisions about where to build hospitals and how to allocate emergency medical equipment are critical during a pandemic, and driven by a source you might not expect. This week’s episode of the Democracy Works podcast, produced by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and WPSU, examines the role…
About nine family members to suffer grief from every COVID-19 fatality
Apr 3, 2020
Deaths from COVID-19 will have a ripple effect causing impacts on the mental health and health of surviving family members. But the extent of that impact has been hard to assess until now. Every death from COVID-19 will impact approximately nine surviving family members, according to a study. In a…
Population researchers contribute to special newsletter on COVID-19 topics
Apr 3, 2020
The work of applied demographers and population research scientists addressing the COVID1-19 pandemic is the focus a special issue of “Applied Demography,” the official publication of the Population Association of America (PAA). According to editor Alexis Santos, assistant professor of human…
Take Note: Penn State Prof. Jenny Van Hook On Coronavirus And The Census
Apr 3, 2020
SSRI cofund and PRI affiliate Jenny Van Hook is interviewed for WPSU's Take Note on the consequences of a Census undercount. Van Hook is the Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography at Penn State and a former member of the Census Advisory Board. She was an expert witness in the legal fight…
Grief from COVID-19 impact may trigger secondary health and mental health crisis
Apr 3, 2020
The loss of life caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic may just be the first tragic wave to hit the country, according to researchers. Grief from the deaths of close relatives and a sudden loss of support could create serious health, mental health and economic issues for grieving family members…
Fighting coronavirus fear with empathy: Lessons learned from how Africans got blamed for Ebola
Feb 7, 2020
This article was originally written for The Conversation by Kevin Thomas, professor of sociology, demography, and African studies. With coronavirus cases exploding in China, the U.S. is once again responding to a global epidemic. Five years ago, when the Ebola virus infected more than 28,000 people…
Population Research Institute co-founder receives international accolade
Jan 27, 2020
By Susan Burlingame, Penn State News, January 23, 2020 Gordon DeJong, distinguished professor emeritus of sociology and demography and co-founder of the Population Research Institute at Penn State, has been named the 30th laureate of the International Union of the Scientific Study of Population (…News Topics: PRI Demography
Summer Institute in Migration Research Methods application deadline February 10
Dec 12, 2019
The UC Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative is delighted to host the 3rd annual Summer Institute in Migration Research Methods (SIMRM), to be held at the University of California, Berkeley campus from May 26-June 5, 2020. The Institute is organized and directed by Irene Bloemraad (UCB)…
Progressive gender views may protect health of financially dependent men
Nov 26, 2019
As it becomes more common for women to be the breadwinner of their family, men’s health may be affected depending on their views on gender ideology, according to Penn State researchers. The researchers found that men who were financially dependent on their wives and who also had more traditional…
Short to deliver De Jong Lecture in Social Demography on Nov. 21
Oct 29, 2019
Susan Short, professor of sociology and director of the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University, will deliver the 14th annual De Jong Lecture in Social Demography at 9 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State’s University Park campus. Short’s research focuses on…
School district secessions shown to have deepened racial segregation
Sep 4, 2019
Since 2000, school district secessions in the South have increasingly sorted white and black students, and white and Hispanic students, into separate school systems, weakening the potential to improve school integration, according to a new study published today (Sept. 4) in AERA Open, a peer-…
Helping Alaskan coastal communities adjust to global warming
Sep 3, 2019
Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities are facing severe environmental changes that threaten to irrevocably damage their way of life. A $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will allow Penn State researchers to assist local communities with foreseeable environmental challenges…
Researchers analyze use of social media during Puerto Rican uprising
Aug 21, 2019
When the people of Puerto Rico took to the streets after a series of government corruption scandals this past July, a group of researchers took the opportunity to determine the role of social media in the organization and dissemination of the protests, marches and other activities that occurred.…
Penn State hosts second annual Summer Institute on Migration Research Methods
Jul 3, 2019
Successful research methods regarding immigration and migrant populations was the focus of the 2019 Summer Institute on Migration Research Methods, held recently at Penn State’s University Park campus. Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography and a Social Science…
Penn State team supports implementation of novel Pennsylvania Rural Health Model
Jul 1, 2019
Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to design and implement an alternative payment model focused solely on rural hospitals, with an emphasis on both containing health care spending and transforming care to better meet community needs. A multi-disciplinary team of Penn State faculty and…
Despite dire predictions, levels of social support remain steady in the U.S.
Jun 14, 2019
Although Americans have faced waves of social, technological and economic disruption over the last few decades, a new study indicates that their perceptions of available social support have remained steady and, in some cases, may even be strengthening. In a study that examined data that spans…
Jensen co-authors chapter in Gender, Agriculture and Agrarian Transformations
May 30, 2019
Leif Jensen, associate director of SSRI and distinguished professor of rural sociology and demography, co-authored a chapter in Gender, Agriculture and Agrarian Transformations edited by Carolyn Sachs, professor emerita of rural sociology. Jensen and other authors wrote the section titled 14…
U.S. Births Fell To A 32-Year Low In 2018; CDC Says Birthrate Is In Record Slump
May 22, 2019
The U.S. birthrate fell again in 2018, to 3,788,235 births — representing a 2% drop from 2017. It's the lowest number of births in 32 years, according to a new federal report. The numbers also sank the U.S. fertility rate to a record low. Not since 1986 has the U.S. seen so few babies born. And it'…
DeJong Discusses 50 years with the State College Choral Society
May 3, 2019
Gordon DeJong, co-founder of the Population Research Institute and a distinguished professor emeritus of sociology and demography, is celebrating 50 years with the State College Choral Society. He has served on the organization’s board for eight years and has established the DeJong Oratorio…
Understanding opioid users' views on fentanyl could help reduce overdoses
Apr 23, 2019
Opioid users fear accidental overdoses from street drugs laced with fentanyl, but unpredictable drug quality means they often lack reliable strategies to avoid it, according to a team of researchers who suggest that fentanyl test strips may reduce overdose deaths. "The opioid crisis is one of the…News Topics: Addiction Opioids Substance Abuse CCSA SSRI Criminal Justice Sociology Demography Overdose
Researchers to compare Twitter opinions on climate change with real-world views
Apr 14, 2019
How do regional opinions on Twitter represent real-world attitudes toward climate change? A team of researchers will work to find out, thanks to a recent seed grant from the Social Science Research Instituteat Penn State. In their study, the researchers will construct a Twitter-driven regional…
Firebaugh receives 2018 American Sociological Association Award
Sep 19, 2018
Glenn Firebaugh, Roy C. Buck Professor of American Institutions and professor of sociology and demography, received the 2018 American Sociological Association Methodology Section Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award. This award recognizes sociologist who have contributed to the field of sociological…
Inaccurate data analysis may affect Puerto Rico’s recovery
Apr 4, 2018
The ability to use statistics to guide decision-making may be collateral damage of Hurricane Maria's devastating blow to Puerto Rico, according to a Penn State demographer. In an article published today (April 2) in Health Affairs, Alexis Raúl Santos, the director of the graduate program in applied…News Topics: Disasters Demography
Why Puerto Rico’s death toll from Hurricane Maria is so much higher than officials thought
Jan 3, 2018
By PRI Associate Alexis Santos for The Conversation “If you don’t get away from those areas, you are going to die.” That phrase concluded Puerto Rico Secretary of Public Safety Héctor Pesquera’s press conference before Hurricane Maria. Three months after the storm, he is one of the fiercest…News Topics: Disasters Demography