New SSRI Seminar Series kicks off Nov. 17
Nov 8, 2022
SSRI is excited to announce a new seminar series highlighting the value and impact of social science at Penn State. The first lecture will be presented by SSRI cofund and PRI Director Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography, on November 17, 12 p.m., at The Bennett…
The Americans Already Suffering Most From the Fall of Roe
Aug 11, 2022
SSRI cofund and CSA Director Guangqing Chi and Jessica Miller wrote this opinion peice for The Slate on limiting access to abortion increases social inequality and puts disproportionate burdens on women of lower income and minorities. Read more here.
Race matters in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, research finds
Jul 27, 2022
Hispanic and Black Americans have suffered higher rates of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 than white Americans. A new Penn State study analyzed data collected when COVID-19 vaccines first became available to determine whether these racial and ethnic disparities are related to vaccine…
Losing spouse to COVID may be worse for mental health than other causes of death
Jul 26, 2022
Losing a spouse can be a devastating experience for anyone. A new study found that experiencing the death of a spouse due to COVID-19 may be worse for mental health than deaths from other causes. Penn State researchers found that while there were strong associations between the recent death of a…
1 in 8 U.S. deaths from 2020 to 2021 came from COVID-19 – leaving millions of relatives reeling from distinctly difficult grief
Jul 12, 2022
By Emily Smith-Greenaway, Associate Professor of Sociology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Ashton Verdery, Professor of Sociology, Demography and Social Data Analytics and Population Research Institute Associate, Penn State; Haowei Wang, Postdoctoral Research Associate in…
Intensifying heat waves threaten South Asia’s struggling farmers – many of them women
Jun 28, 2022
By Heather Randell, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography and SSRI cofund, Penn State and Emily M L Southard, Ph.D. Candidate in Rural Sociology and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Penn State, for The Conversation Sitting in a semi-circle in the yard outside of a village school…
Older adults more likely to have multiple health ailments than prior generations
Jun 22, 2022
Later-born generations of older adults in the United States are more likely to have a greater number of chronic health conditions than the generations that preceded them, according to a study conducted by Penn State and Texas State University. According to the researchers, the increasing frequency…
Study explores link between earthquakes, rainfall and food insecurity in Nepal
Sep 10, 2021
The effects of monsoon rainfall on food insecurity in Nepal vary by earthquake exposure, with regions that experienced both heavy earthquake shaking and abundant rainfall more likely to have an inadequate supply of nutritious food. That is one of the conclusions of a study led by Heather Randell,…
Et tu, Brute? Teens may be more likely to be bullied by social-climbing friends
Feb 24, 2021
Adolescents and teens may be more likely to be bullied by their friends — and friends-of-friends — than classmates they don’t know as well, according to a new study. Diane Felmlee, distinguished professor of sociology and demography at Penn State and researcher on the paper, said the findings give…
Research brief ties increased income from Marcellus Shale natural gas development to youth obesity rates
Feb 16, 2021
The Marcellus Shale natural gas development increased income for families in several rural Pennsylvania counties. In the U.S., children in families with more income typically have lower rates of obesity. But, despite the sudden influx of income to the communities around the Marcellus Shale, rates…
About nine family members to suffer grief from every COVID-19 fatality
Jul 16, 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…
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…
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…
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…
Randell receives Roy C. Buck Faculty Award in College of Agricultural Sciences
Apr 14, 2020
Heather Randell, assistant professor of rural sociology and demography in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named the recipient of the 2019 Roy C. Buck Faculty Award. The award, which recognizes exceptional articles accepted or published by refereed scholarly journals in the…
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…
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: PRIDemography
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…
Aging in rural America focus of new research network
Oct 4, 2019
The rural population in the U.S. is aging at a more rapid rate than in urban areas, while disparities in rural health and life expectancy continue to grow. A new five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) will fund a Penn State-led…
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…