Why Social Science? Because Changing Behavior is Essential to Addressing Climate Change
This week's Why Social Science? post comes from Corbin Evans, Senior Director of Congressional and Federal Relations at the American Psychological Association, who writes about human behavior and its relationship to the changing climate.
Scientists across a wide range of…
Challenges of older Pennsylvanians focus of new brief
Pennsylvania’s population is aging rapidly, and it is estimated that by 2030, one in five residents will be age 65 and older.
The issue is important, because as the state’s population ages, the number of adults needing services is expected to increase. In a new policy brief from Penn…
Fostering Support: A Young Penn State Program Helps Former Foster Youth
For many Penn State students, a helping hand or word of guidance is as close as a phone call to Mom or Dad. Care packages show up at their dorm room regularly, and they come to college equipped with all the school supplies they might need.
Students who grew up in the foster-care system often aren’t…
The Covid cloud is starting to lift – but two years on, its legacy of grief lingers
PRI Associate Ashton Verdery was quoted in this story about the impacts of Covid-19 by The Guardian.
Verdery created with colleagues a bereavement multiplier that estimates how many people in the US have lost a close relative to Covid. Given the paucity of historical demographic data for Hispanic…
Team looks at health disparities and impact of adverse childhood events
Penn State students, along with a team from Penn State Health, Penn State College of Medicine and Gramener, a data science consulting company, worked together to identify risk factors, health disparities — and the lifetime consequences of — adverse childhood events (ACE). The team was part of a…
Santos quoted on underrepresented communities in the census
SSRI cofund and PRI associate Alexis Santos was recently quoted in an ABC News story about Latino, Black, and Native American communities underrepresented in the 2020 Census.
It's important for the bureau to accurately measure how many people are living in the United States; the census determines…
Researchers study ways to make college admissions more equitable
The Penn State College of Education has received a sub-award on a $1.4 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Kelly Rosinger, assistant professor of education (education and public policy) is a co-principal investigator on a University of Maryland-led study to examine…
Panel will explore the promise and peril of dialogue
As political polarization increases, organizations across the United States are trying to figure out how to help citizens have conversations across divides. While that sounds good in theory, having a dialogue that is both meaningful and useful for democracy is something else entirely.
A panel of…
New PPN Brief discusses ambulatory and cognition challenges among older Pennsylvanians
A new brief from the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) explores differences in ambulatory and cognition challenges for Pennsylvanians by age group and sex.
Authored by Alexis R. Santos, SSRI cofund and assistant professor of human development and family studies, and Raeven Faye Chandler,…
COSSA 2022 rankings of college and university social science R&D
The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) recently released its annual College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlight the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences.
Penn State was ranked…
Morgan among top 1% of researchers globally
Harry & Marion Royer Eberly Fellow and Professor of Education and Demography Paul Morgan is recognized as being among the top 1% of scientists in the world, according to a report from Elsevier BV and Stanford University.
Morgan is also a PRI associate and the director for the Center of…
How to conduct research at the FSRDC seminar
Join SSRI on March 22 at 1 p.m. as Emily Greenman, administrator of Penn State's Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC), and Mark Roberts, professor of economics and FSRDC director, provide faculty and graduate students with information on conducting research at the Penn State…
COVID-19 and the mental health of essential workers
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health and well-being of the population as a whole, leading to large-scale lifestyle changes, social isolation, and increased stress. However, this has been especially pertinent to essential workers—facing high workloads, insufficient…
Children eat what they like, but food intake driven more by what they dislike
It is often said that “children eat what they like,” but the results of a new study by Penn State nutritionists and sensory scientists suggests that when it comes to meals, it is more accurate and more relevant to say, “children do not eat what they dislike.”
There is an important difference,…
Journalist and storyteller Sam Quinones to present virtual talk March 23
SSRI's Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction and the Criminal Justice Research Center will host a virtual talk with Sam Quinones on Wednesday, March 23, from noon to 1:30 p.m., titled "True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth with Sam…
Penn State establishes the Geroscience and Dementia Prevention Consortium
There is growing evidence that cognitive decline and dementia can be slowed. According to a recent report commissioned by the Lancet, an estimated 40% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by targeting modifiable behavioral, physical health, and psychosocial risk factors. There are also…
Why Social Science ? - Because It Can Help Preserve Cultural Heritage Important for Understanding and Social Benefit
This week's Why Social Science? post comes from Richard Kurin, Distinguished Scholar & Ambassador at Large at the Smithsonian Institution, who writes about the role social science plays in protecting and preserving cultural heritage.
Cultural heritage is today threatened on…
Aging and Disability Services are Unequally Distributed Across the United States
The U.S. population is aging rapidly, but 15% of U.S. counties have no aging and disability services organizations. This research brief by Syracuse University’s Claire Pendergrast and Penn State's PRI Associate Danielle Rhubart shows that rural counties and counties with the highest rates of…
Positive parenting can reduce the risk that children develop obesity
New research from Penn State found that children with positive, early interactions with their care givers — characterized by warmth, responsiveness, and a sitmulating home environment — were at reduced risk of childhood obesity.
“A lot of the discussion around childhood obesity and…
Diagnosing head injuries key in child abuse cases
Being able to accurately diagnose suspected child abuse is crucial, as an incorrect diagnosis can possibly lead to traumatic family separations and questionable criminal charges or result in the return of the child to an abusive situation.
Researchers at Penn State are committed to…
COVID-19 and gun violence increasing in PA
Pennsylvania saw a 38% increase in the rate of gun violence during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was higher than the national average. This observation is based on the recent peer-reviewed study that enabled Penn State researchers to assess the rates of gun violence…
Researchers to study COVID-19 effects on maternal, child health during pregnancy
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has awarded Penn State College of Medicine $3.9 million through May 2025 to study the impact COVID-19 has on pregnancy. The researchers will conduct a multi-site study to examine the health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants…
CATS Safety Now Live for Biosafety Protocols
CATS Safety is a web-based system that allows for a more streamlined process to submit, review, and approve the use of regulated and biohazardous materials in research and instruction (as defined in Penn State Policy RP11). CATS Safety joins existing systems, CATS IRB and CATS IACUC. …
Kraschnewski named director of Clinical Translational Science Institute
Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski has assumed the role of director of Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute effective Feb. 7.
Kraschnewski will be leading the CTSI along with associate directors Susan McHale, Nikolay Dokholyan and Christopher Sciamanna.
Kraschnewski takes over the…
Researchers examine link between residential and school segregation
School segregation has remained a hot-button political issue since Brown vs. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the justices ruled that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. New research from a Penn State…