Hormones may affect girls’ interests, but not their gender identity or playmates
Prenatal exposure to male hormones influences which activities girls are interested and engage in, but the effects of those hormones don’t extend to gender identity or who they socialize with, according to Penn State researchers.
The researchers explored how prenatal exposure to androgens —…
Why Social Science? - Because It is an Engine for Social Progress
By Darla Spence Coffey, PhD, MSW, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Social Work Education & James Herbert Williams, PhD, MSW, MPA, Arizona Centennial Professor of Social Welfare Services at Arizona State University
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is dedicated…
McCourtney Institute Mood of the Nation Poll examines public trust in the FBI
Months of attacks on the FBI are impacting the public’s perception of the Bureau’s 13,000 agents, according to newly-released findings from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s Mood of the Nation Poll.
Among Democrats, 67 percent trust the FBI to do what is right “most of the time” or “just…
Why the 2020 census shouldn’t ask about your citizenship status
By Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography, for The Conversation
“Is this person a citizen of the United States?”
In Dec. 2017, the Department of Justice formally proposed adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. This question would ostensibly help to enforce…
Brick to speak on data privacy within scientific research
Tim Brick, a Penn State professor of human development and family studies and part of SSRI's QuantDev group , will discuss “The MID/DLE Way: Privacy by Design for Science in Real Time” on March 1 from 1:30–3:00 p.m. The event will be held in 233A HUB-Robeson Center.
This talk is hosted by the…
Thomas publishes book on migrants aiding U.S. military in Iraq
Kevin Thomas, Population Research Institute affiliate and associate professor of sociology, demography, and African studies, recently published his book titled, "Contract Workers, Risk, and the War in Iraq". The publication explores why migrants risk traveling to Iraq despite the dangers of the…
Applications open for Community Engaged Research Core Faculty Fellowship Program - February 2018
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute‘s Community Engaged Research Core is now accepting applications for its 2018-19 Faculty Fellowship Program.
This opportunity is open to all Penn State junior or mid-level faculty who want to advance their practice of community-engaged research…
Morgan's research featured recently in NYT & WSJ
CEDR director and PRI affiliate Paul Morgan's research was recently reported on in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and details why the research should be resulting in changes in federal-level educational policy.
Additionally, Morgan gave the Naomi Zigmond Plenary Keynote at this…
Twitter resources available for Penn State researchers
The Computational and Spatial Analysis (CSA) Core of the Population and Social Science Research Institutes has built the infrastructure for collecting and managing Twitter data and has capacity in processing and analyzing the data for social science and population research. The Core has collected…
New research collaboratory aims to harness the power of data to improve health
Health care professionals have long theorized that medical conditions, like asthma or cancer, are a result of not only genetics but also environmental and lifestyle factors. These theories, however, have been difficult to prove conclusively without the ability to analyze large-scale population…
Frankenberg reviews report about school and residential segregation
Balancing Act: Schools, Neighborhoods, and Racial Imbalance, published by the Brookings Institution, takes up the important task of considering school and residential segregation by exploring the racial makeup of schools compared to their proximate neighborhoods.
Professors Genevieve Siegel-Hawley…
NIH Announces Inclusion Across the Lifespan Policy
By Mike Lauer
Last month, NIH announced a revision (NOT-OD-18-116) to a decades-old policy originally conceived in response to concerns that children were not appropriately included in clinical research. These changes broaden the policy to address inclusion of research participants of all ages, and…
ICS Symposium 2018 to explore big data and computational research
In today’s society, data is being collected everywhere, all the time—from your phone, from your car, in hospitals, in the workplace. Data has the potential to solve major social problems. But to make sense of such massive quantities of data, researchers must find innovative methods to gather and…
Stigma increases risk of depression for people with Multiple Sclerosis
People with Multiple Sclerosis — MS — who feel stigmatized are more likely to suffer from depression, according to researchers, who add that having a support system of friends and family and a sense of autonomy may help reduce the harmful effects of stigma.
As part of an ongoing research project,…
Data Security at Penn State focus of Brown Bag Seminar
PRI is presenting a special Brown Bag seminar, "Data security at Penn State", being given by Don Welch, Chief Information Security Officer, which will be held on Tuesday, February 27th from 12 - 1 p.m. in 110 Henderson Building (the Bennett Pierce Living Center). All faculty, staff, and students…
New project to investigate social media aggression
A recent survey found that 40 percent of American adults and 9 percent of children in grades 6-12 have experienced online harassment on social media in the last year.
In light of this trend, the National Science Foundation recently awarded Penn State’s Diane Felmlee, professor of sociology, the…
New project to identify risk factors for sexual exploitation of children
Sex trafficking is one of the world’s most prevalent and profitable criminal enterprises, with over 100,000 annual cases involving children under the age of 18 in the U.S. each year. However, the number of these cases are vastly under reported, especially in rural areas. A new project being…
University Libraries offer maps and geospatial information sessions in February
On Wednesdays this February, and one in March, Penn State University Libraries will offer informational sessions relating to foundational map and geospatial topics. The sessions, which do not require registration, are open to all Penn State students, staff, faculty and visitors, and remote viewing…
Bridges to Translation IV offers pilot grants
As part of its mission to accelerate discoveries to benefit human health, the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute will award up to $300,000 in funding for pilot projects through Bridges to Translation IV.
An RFA workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 13 at Penn State…
Second round of Integrative Studies Seed Grants available to faculty
The Penn State Office for General Education is soliciting faculty proposals again this year for the development of integrative studies courses. This year, the Office for General Education is looking to fund approximately 30 proposals from all current, nonretired faculty. A webinar for interested…
Brown bag software tutorials in the humanities and social sciences
A series of workshops titled “Software in the Humanities and Social Sciences” will continue through the spring semester and features researchers from across the University offering weekly tutorial sessions that aim to highlight a range of software options and resources in relatable topics.
The…
NIH Clinical Trials: 15 Minute Overview Recording
The recent presentation NIH Clinical Trials: 15 Minute Overview (What NIH’s Definition Means for Researchers and How the ORP Can Help) and is now available to view on YouTube. Slides are also available for the presentation (slides available as a pdf and as a Powerpoint presentation; if you need the…
Penn State hosts summit to combat the opioid epidemic
Opioid overdose deaths in Pennsylvania increased 37 percent in 2016, ranking the state fourth in the nation. Coming on the heels of Gov. Tom Wolf’s declaration of the opioid crisis as a disaster emergency, Penn State recently held its first University-wide summit on the opioid epidemic.
The summit…
Penn State researchers developing startup to help people in addiction recovery
A group of Penn State researchers is developing a system — WearIT — utilizing wearable devices as tools to help individuals battle addiction.
Their idea was the winner of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania’s TechCelerator program, receiving $10,000 in December to…
Frankenberg named among RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
PRI associate Erica Frankenberg was once again named among the 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, identifying the university-based scholars in the U.S. who are doing the most to shape educational practice and policy.
Simply being included in this list of 200 scholars is an…