Project to study pandemic impacts on Alaskan salmon season
Jun 29, 2020
Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the world's largest commercial sockeye salmon fishery, attracting thousands of fishermen, crews, and seasonal workers and tripling the region’s population. Running from early June to late July, the short salmon season is facing a new challenge this year, the…
New grant seeks to train population health researchers
Jun 25, 2020
Training the next generation of population health researchers is the goal of a training grant that will support four predoctoral and one postdoc scholar at Penn State.Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the graduate training program will provide a framework for training students in the…
Marching for change: 2017 Women’s March met with mostly positive support online
Jun 24, 2020
Large protest events can be divisive, spurring an outpouring of both support and opposition. But new Penn State research found that the 2017 Women’s March, which championed goals in support of women and human rights, was met with mostly positive support on social media, with relatively few negative…
Post Doctoral Scholar Position
Jun 8, 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…
Penn State researchers evaluate 2020 Census data privacy changes
Jun 2, 2020
After the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it was changing how it protects the identities of individuals for the 2020 Census, a Penn State-led research team began to evaluate how these changes may affect census data integrity.The Census Bureau is proposing to use differential privacy, a new…
Take Note: Penn State Prof. Jenny Van Hook On Coronavirus And The Census
May 27, 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…
Research information outlines Pennsylvania specifics related to COVID-19
Apr 22, 2020
Many Pennsylvania residents are facing an increased risk for severe symptoms of the novel coronavirus, while having limited access to medical services, and policy briefs from Penn State’s Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) demonstrate why.Raeven Chandler, assistant research professor and…
Penn State researchers evaluating Twitter data during pandemic
Apr 16, 2020
By collecting global Twitter data from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Penn State researchers have developed a dashboard that tracks geotagged tweets to allow researchers and policymakers assess public reactions to the pandemic.“Geotagged Twitter data provides significant opportunities to…
Grief from COVID-19 impact may trigger secondary health and mental health crisis
Apr 15, 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…
Population researchers contribute to special newsletter on COVID-19 topics
Apr 9, 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…
Podcast episode explores how the Census impacts public health
Apr 9, 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…
PPN Brief on COVID19 and the aging population in PA
Mar 31, 2020
New from the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) is the PPN Brief "COVID19 & The Commonwealth: Vulnerable Populations in Pennsylvania: Aging". Key findings include:Median Age of PA is 40.7 with 23.7% of the state being 60 Plus
11 counties report having zero ICU beds, seven of which are…
Applied Demography Special Issue on COVID1-19
Mar 31, 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. The editorial was written by SSRI cofunded faculty member Alexis Santos, while…
Achievement gaps may explain racial overrepresentation in special education
Mar 19, 2020
U.S. school districts may be flagged as over-identifying students of color as having disabilities when other factors, such as achievement gaps, may explain these disparities, according to new Penn State research published in Exceptional Children.Federal legislation and regulations require U.S.…
Family Symposium book series releases latest edition
Mar 17, 2020
The most recent volume in the National Symposium on Family Issues book series, “Rural Families and Communities in the United States” is now available from Springer Publishing. This volume specifically focuses on the implications of rural residency for American families, especially minority families…
Underlying factors affect children's early reading and math achievement
Mar 16, 2020
Underlying individual and environmental factors may better explain inter-relations between children’s early reading and mathematics achievement, according to new research that fails to support prior work suggesting that increasing children’s math skills might help increase their reading skills.…
Making School Choice More Equitable in an Era of Rising Inequality by Erica Frankenberg
Mar 11, 2020
By Erica Frankenberg for the Equity Alliance BlogIn April 2019, the Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing about the legacy of school integration efforts and the federal government’s role 65 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision that…
Many US preschoolers remain racially segregated at school
Feb 3, 2020
Young children can benefit greatly from exposure to racial and ethnic diversity during a crucial formative period in their lives, according to a Penn State education professor. However, recent research indicates that a high degree of segregation in American preschools could be hindering students…
PRI Computer Core offering data services
Jan 27, 2020
The PRI Computer Core is now offering a data archival service. If you have large amounts of data you'd like to preserve for historical or academic purposes, the Computer Core can burn them to DVD (5GB) or blu-ray (25+GB) long-term data storage media for you. These long-term storage media outlast…
Population Research Institute co-founder receives international accolade
Jan 27, 2020
By Susan Burlingame, Penn State News, January 23, 2020Gordon 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 (…
Frankenberg rises in ranking of public influencers on education
Jan 14, 2020
Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography, director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, and an associate in the University's Population Research Institute, jumped 76 places to rank 87th in this year's Rick Hess Straight Up (RHSU) Edu-Scholar Public…
New open access policy expands public accessibility of Penn State research
Jan 14, 2020
Penn State has joined a growing list of major research universities to enact an open access policy to expand the public availability and accessibility of its research.The new open access policy took effect on Jan. 1 and applies to all University researchers, including faculty and staff, University…
Eliminating Smoking and Obesity Could Shrink U.S. Health Disparities, But Where People Live Matters Too
Dec 18, 2019
Smoking and obesity are the two leading causes of preventable death, disability, and chronic disease in the United States. New research shows that eliminating them could go a long way in reducing racial health gaps. But location also plays a key role in health disparities, with neighborhood setting…
Morgan's research cited in report on using science and policy to advance health
Dec 13, 2019
Paul Morgan, director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research and PRI affiliate, and his research team's finding on disparities in disability identification are repeatedly cited in Vibrant and Healthy Kids, the new National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report on using…
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)…