Amish found to be under-vaccinated for COVID-19 but not unvaccinated
Aug 28, 2023
This summer, viral misinformation claimed that the Amish did not vaccinate against COVID-19 and, as a result, had a death rate 90 times lower than the rest of the United States. Now, a Penn State study is the first to provide geographically broad and population-wide evidence that while the Amish-…
Strategic city planning can help reduce urban heat island effect
May 23, 2023
The tendency of cities to trap heat — a phenomenon called the “urban heat island,” often referred to as the UHI effect — can lead to dangerous temperatures in the summer months, but new Penn State research suggests that certain urban factors can reduce this effect.The study found that trees had a…
Wildfire proximity associated with asthma cases in rural Alaska
Mar 30, 2023
Alaska is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Penn State researchers are examining the resulting impacts, such as wildfires, and how they are linked to health conditions like asthma. In a new study, they found that wildfires are associated with asthma prevalence, and the association is…
Talks to focus on NSF opportunities for researchers
Jan 13, 2023
Social science research opportunities available through the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be the subject of two presentations being held on Feb. 22, 3 - 4:30 p.m.; and Feb. 23, 12 – 1 p.m., at The Bennett Pierce Living Center, Room 110 Henderson Building, Penn State.Dr. Erica Hill, a…
Backlash to racial justice movements may boost risk of high BMI, obesity
Nov 2, 2022
Since its inception in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement has helped raise awareness and mobilize efforts against racial inequality. It also has spurred controversy, and new research found that experiencing backlash to the movement may have negative health consequences for Black Americans.The…
New grant continues Arctic research addressing climate change and communities
Sep 21, 2022
Climate change in the Arctic is evident as temperatures rise and Alaskan coastal Indigenous communities face severe, urgent, and complex social and infrastructural challenges. A collection of Penn State research in the region, being driven by social sciences and in collaboration with engineering…
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.
Penn State researchers to study political content sharing on Facebook
Sep 8, 2020
As the 2020 election draws closer, political content on social media is becoming more and more prevalent. A group of Penn State researchers is examining spontaneous sharing of political content on Facebook.According to principal investigator S. Shyam Sundar, James P. Jimirro Professor of Media…
Cases of highly aggressive prostate cancer at time of diagnosis increase in PA
May 19, 2020
Among prostate cancer cases, highly aggressive cases of the disease at the time of diagnosis increased significantly in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2014, according to Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Cancer Institute researchers. The increase affected both white and black men, with…
Penn State researchers evaluating Twitter data during pandemic
Apr 16, 2020
By collecting global Twitter data from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Penn State researchers have developed a dashboard that tracks geotagged tweets to allow researchers and policymakers assess public reactions to the pandemic.“Geotagged Twitter data provides significant opportunities to…
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…
Penn State team supports implementation of novel Pennsylvania Rural Health Model
Jul 2, 2019
Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to design and implement an alternative payment model focused solely on rural hospitals, with an emphasis on both containing health care spending and transforming care to better meet community needs.A multi-disciplinary team of Penn State faculty and…
Researchers to compare Twitter opinions on climate change with real-world views
Apr 15, 2019
How do regional opinions on Twitter represent real-world attitudes toward climate change? A team of researchers will work to find out, thanks to a recent seed grant from the Social Science Research Instituteat Penn State.In their study, the researchers will construct a Twitter-driven regional…
Chi publishes first book on spatial regression methods
Apr 11, 2019
After taking ten years to complete research and writing, SSRI co-fund Guangqing Chi recently published his book, “Spatial Regression Models for the Social Sciences” with co-author Jun Zhu. The book serves as a primer type of textbook for social scientists who would like a quick start to learning…
Registration now open for seminar on generalizability of Twitter data
Apr 11, 2019
Guangqing Chi, associate professor of rural sociology and demography and public health sciences and SSRI co-funded faculty, will present “The Generalizability and Replicability of Twitter Data for Population (and Health) Research” at the next Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD)…
Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
Mar 7, 2019
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), in collaboration with the Institute for CyberScience (ICS) and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, has awarded over $100,000 in funding to support six new interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is aimed at…
Sifting through 50 million phone calls for patterns to aid refugees
Oct 31, 2018
When refugees use their mobile phones they leave clues about how well they are integrating (or not) into their host country. Clio Andris, assistant professor of geography in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, is analyzing a year’s worth of phone calls to find the clues to help address the…
Teams sought to develop innovative research programs using Twitter data
Oct 15, 2018
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) is seeking teams to develop innovative research programs using Twitter data.Proposals are invited for pilot projects aimed at using Twitter data in social science research. Twitter offers one of the most rapidly growing and accessible Big Data…
Seed grants to support opioid research announced
Sep 13, 2018
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), in collaboration with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), has awarded over $200,000 in funding to support 10 new interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is aimed at combating the opioid epidemic.“…
$6.3 million grant will fund video library of moms and babies at play
Sep 11, 2018
When toddlers play, there’s more going on than meets the eye. Play and other natural activities parents engage in help developing children build social, emotional and locomotor skills, among others.To help tease apart these processes, a team of researchers led by Penn State and New York University…
Using social media to solve social problems
Aug 16, 2018
Social scientist rely on data to study social problems, however data from traditional surveys can be difficult and time consuming to collect, as well as inaccurate since not all factors can be measured well. A National Science Foundation-funded Penn State project will evaluate the accuracy of using…
Well-being of 'left behind' children in Kyrgyzstan focus of study
Aug 8, 2018
Growing up can be hard no matter what a family's circumstances, but it is often more so for children living in the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, one of the poorest countries in the world, known for its dry environment, high mountains, nomadic culture and animal-husbandry heritage.Isolation,…
Human Health and the Environment seed grant recipients announced
May 21, 2018
Human Health and the Environment seed grants for 2018 have been awarded to eight interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers. The seed grants were funded through a collaboration of Penn State Institutes and the College of Medicine, which collectively contributed more than $400,000.The…
Twitter resources available for Penn State researchers
Feb 14, 2018
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…