Sociology professor and former student earn Gould Prize for bullying research
Nov 20, 2022
Bullying is unfortunately a timeless and universal phenomenon, and more pervasive than ever in the age of social media. Research remains critical to understanding the subject, and Diane Felmlee, distinguished professor of sociology and demography in the College of the Liberal Arts, is right at the…
SSRI funded project results in award
Nov 17, 2022
A project supported by Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute recently won the “Distinguished Article Award” from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. The paper, "Religion at the frontline: How religion influenced the response of local government officials to the COVID-19…News Topics: SociologyPolitical Science
Sociology professor awarded NSF grant to study local church-state issues
Nov 14, 2022
The separation of church and state is a concept many Americans have held dear since the nation’s founding. The actual relationship between religion and government, though, has been noticeably blurring in recent years, and a team led by Associate Professor of Sociology Gary Adler Jr., will examine…News Topics: SociologyPolicymaking
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…
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…
Losing a grandmother may trigger rise in depression for some of her survivors
Jun 17, 2022
Losing a beloved family member is never easy, but a new study suggests the loss of a grandmother in particular may have repercussions for the loved ones she leaves behind. The researchers found that for up to seven years after the death of their grandmother, adolescent boys had a 50% increase in…
New book, 'The Tolls of Uncertainty,' examines the US unemployment system
Jun 18, 2021
In April 2020, soon after the pandemic forced the U.S. into lockdown, the unemployment rate reached 14.8%, the highest documented since data collection began in 1948. More than a year later, 4.2 million fewer women and 3.5 million fewer men are employed, compared to just before the start of the…
GIS technology helps map out how America's mafia networks were 'connected
Apr 13, 2021
At its height in the mid-20th century, American organized crime groups, often called the mafia, grossed approximately $40 billion each year, typically raising that money through illegal or untaxed activities, such as extortion and gambling. A team of researchers used geographic information systems…News Topics: SociologyCriminology
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Penn State sociology professor coauthors new book on foster care
Mar 26, 2020
An examination of the foster care system and its effects on children is the focus on a new book authored by Sarah Font, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State, and Elizabeth Gershoff, professor of human development and family studies at the University of Texas at Austin The book, “Foster…
Columbia University researchers to present talk based on sexual-assault research
Feb 20, 2020
Columbia University professors Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan will share their research into what college students want out of sexual encounters and how misunderstandings about sexual encounters may potentially translate into sexual assault, at a free, public talk taking place 6:30-7:30 p.m.,…
Penn State tops NSF Rankings for Breadth of Research Expertise
Feb 18, 2020
The breadth of Penn State’s research expertise surpasses that of any university in the country, according to the latest National Science Foundation rankings of Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) research expenditures by key fields and subfields, released in November 2019. The rankings…
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…
Why Social Science? - Because Collaborating Across Cultures and Beyond Boundaries Leads to Progress on the World’s Biggest Issues
Dec 18, 2019
By Amanda B. Clinton, Ph.D., Senior Director, Office of International Affairs, American Psychological Associations This post originally appeared on August 26, 2019 as “Time to Change the World” in the in the American Psychological Association’s Global Insights Newsletter and is reproduced here…
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…