Penn State is advancing Implementation Science through education and research
The Penn State Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) are jointly hosting the next Implementation Science Seminar at University Park on Thursday, March 28 from 1 – 3 p.m. in the Smeal Business Building, Room 217, and on Zoom. This…
Survey Research Center adds MetricWire to TRACE Portfolio
Penn State's Survey Research Center (SRC) at Penn State recently acquired an enterprise-level MetricWire license to enhance its research capabilities and remain at the forefront of mobile data collection methodologies. This addition will allow researchers to conduct sophisticated…
Penn State to celebrate “Pinwheels for Prevention”
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, and Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network (CMSN) is spearheading a campaign, “Pinwheels for Prevention PSU” to engage the university community and foster awareness around child abuse prevention.
On April 12, the CMSN…
COSSA’s Social Science Rankings place Penn State at #6
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. In their rankings, Penn State came in sixth place with over $46 million…
Call for ambassadors for Research-to-Policy Collaboration program
Research findings can often be underutilized in policymaking, leading to limited public benefit from taxpayer-funded research. A program at Penn State is offering scholars from across the country the opportunity to engage with policymakers to help research evidence and expertise inform policy…
Project reveals pandemic perceptions in Alaskan fishing community
When the COVID-19 pandemic spread across United States in early 2020, people’s perceptions of the disease varied widely. Penn State researchers examined those perceptions in Bristol Bay, Alaska, home to the world’s largest commercial salmon fishery, and found people’s perceptions of risk due to…
Researchers identify distinct sleep types and their impact on long-term health
Poor sleep habits are strongly associated with long-term chronic health conditions, according to decades of research. To better understand this relationship, a team led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development identified four distinct patterns that characterize how…
Trauma screening may improve mental health service recommendations for children
Each year between 200,000 and 270,000 children and youth enter foster care placements with child welfare services, and many more children receive child welfare services while remaining in their parent's care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Although many of these…
Connell co-author of award-winning paper
Christian Connell, associate professor of human development and family studies and director of SSRI's Child Maltreatment Solutions Network was part of a group of international child maltreatment researchers who recently received honorable mention for paper of the year by the International…
Expanding Empathy seminar series to kick off
We are under two weeks away from the first panel of Expanding Empathy 2024, which is supported by the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making.
The first panel, taking place March 19, 12 - 2 p.m. EDT on Zoom, will include talks by Sa-kiera Hudson, University of California, Berkeley; Felipe De…
Why Social Science? - Because It Makes An Outsized Impact on Policy
The new "Why Social Science?" post comes from Camille Gamboa from Sage who interviews Euan Adie, Overton's managing director, to learn more about the large impact that social science makes on policy and his work creating tools to connect the scholarly and policy worlds.
We know that…
SSRI cofounds participate in Capitol Hill Research and Policy Briefing
On March 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., a Capitol Hill Research and Policy Briefing will take place featuring two SSRI cofounds: Erica Frankenberg and Jennifer Van Hook.
The event will be hybrid with the in-person option located in the Russel Senate Office Building, Room 118, 2…
Obesity research seed grant now available
Penn State’s Center for Childhood Obesity Research (CCOR) in collaboration with the Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI) announces the Interdisciplinary Obesity Research Seed Grant Program to fund innovative, interdisciplinary research related to obesity and obesity-related health outcomes…
Lecture to discuss behavioral factors that drive what, why and how children eat
Kathleen L. Keller, Penn State professor of nutritional sciences and food science and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member, will present the 2024 Pattishall Research Lecture, “Understanding Children's Eating Behaviors: The What, Why and How?”
The…
Two SSRI-funded Penn State Berks professors elected as INFORMS DEI Ambassadors
Penn State Berks has announced that two of its professors have been elected as 2024 INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) Ambassadors. In this role, Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information…
Annual Substance Use and Addiction Conference to be held on April 29
The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction will host its fifth annual conference, in-person and via Zoom on Monday, April 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Barron Innovation Hub.
The all-day event is free, but all in-person and virtual…
Van Hook named distinguished professor
Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography, College of the Liberal Arts, was recently named distinguished professor by Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
The distinguished professor or distinguished librarian title recognizes outstanding…
Suicidality among individuals with substance use disorders increased in 2020
Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) were significantly more likely to consider, plan and attempt suicide than those without SUDs in 2020, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. Adolescents and women with SUDs were also more likely to experience suicidality — the term for…
Evaluating the quality of civilian transitions in post-9/11 veterans
Researchers at Penn State’s Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness (Clearinghouse) have developed a new framework for assessing the quality of military-to-civilian transitions (MTCTs) among post-9/11 veterans.
The Clearinghouse team recently published the details of the new framework…
Low voice pitch increases standing among strangers
If you’re looking for a long-term relationship or to boost your social status, lower your pitch, according to researchers studying the effects of voice pitch on social perceptions. They found that lower voice pitch makes women and men sound more attractive to potential long-term partners, and lower…
Consortium moving forward with events and new website
Penn State’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making is progressing with its mission to create an interdisciplinary, collaborative network of social scientists and scholars studying how people make moral and ethical decisions with upcoming events and a new seed funding program.
Directed…
Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research (IPDR) opens call for proposals
The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute, Materials Research Institute, the Institute of Energy and the Environment, the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and…
Dear Colleague Letter: The Social and Behavioral Science of Bias, Prejudice and Discrimination
Dear Colleague:
Research supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate has significantly advanced understanding of the science of bias, prejudice, and discrimination. SBE programs have supported transformative projects on many…
Why Social Science? - Because It Helps Us Incorporate Lived Experience into Health Research
The new Why Social Science? post comes from Dr. Monica N. Feit from the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) who writes about how social science can provide valuable expertise to help…
Monica Oakes joins SSRI
SSRI would like to welcome Monica Oakes, who recently joined our team as a Research Project Manager. She previously worked for Optum in the Natural Language Processing group leading collaborative efforts across various departments including client professional services projects and implementing…