Do highly exclusive social welfare programs increase political inequality? A comparative analysis of the 50 US states

"In this paper, I empirically test the notion that the degree of inclusion/ exclusion of social welfare policies can have important feedback effects on political participation of poor citizens. I conduct a comparative analysis of the 50 US states, using the uptake (or coverage rate) of the Food Stamp program as an indicator of relative inclusiveness. If the inclusiveness of the program 'sends a message' to potential recipients about their worth in the community, these messages may encourage or discourage participation. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey, 1988-2000, I show that the turnout of young citizens raised in poor families is dramatically influenced by the inclusiveness of the state's Food Stamp program. High inclusive states displayed much lower rates of political inequality. The mechanisms underlying this effect remain to be specified. However, in the context of previous individual-level studies, the results bolster the idea of policy feedback generally, and its impact on political inequality in particular." (author's abstract

The Self-Appraisal of Masking Instrument

We explore mask-wearing behavior during the coronavirus pandemic using the Self-Appraisal of Masking Instrument (SAMI). We situate this survey-based instrument within a theory in which the decision to mask reflects social identity, an associated identity standard, and appraisals that generate feelings about oneself. Analyses of SAMI's empirical properties reveal that masking-specific emotional reactions are distinct from emotional reports related to current events and politics (discriminant validity). We also uncover evidence of predictive validity: expressed feelings about masking predict future voting more than 6 months later. We recommend SAMI to researchers interested in studying mask resistance in an increasingly polarized political climate, and the intuition behind SAMI could prove useful in other research contexts in which health decisions reflect a conscious comparison to standards held by those who share an identity or will otherwise pass judgment

Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms: A National Portrait

Despite many legal and legislative decisions, a new study shows that one in eight high school biology instructors teach their students that creationism or intelligent design is a valid alternative to evolutionary biology

Family Structure and Voter Turnout

Abstract We use data from the Voting and Registration Supplement of the Current Population Survey to explore the effects of family structure on turnout in the 2000 presidential election. Our results indicate that family structure, defined as marital status and the presence of children, has substantial consequences for turnout. Married adults are more likely to vote than are those who have never been married; in turn, previously married people are the lightest voters. Children have a smaller but still noteworthy effect on turnout. These results are only partially explained by social and demographic differences

Mid-American Review of Sociology, Volume 9, Number 2 (WINTER, 1984): Book Review

Review of Charles Zastrow's and Lee Bowker's "Social Problems: Issues and Solutions

Replication Data for: "Climate Confusion..." published 2/12/2016 in Science

The National Survey of American Science Teachers is the first nationally representative survey of teachers that is focused primarily on climate change education. This dataverse contains replication data, methodology reports and questionnaires employed in analyses reported in E. Plutzer, M McCaffrey, A. L. Hannah, J. Rosenau, M. Berbeco, A. Reid. 2016. "Climate confusion among U.S. teachers: Teachers’ knowledge and values can hinder climate education." Science 351 (6274): 665–666 and in the companion report published by the National Center for Science Education

Family Transitions, Economic Status, and Voter Turnout Among African-American Inner-City Women

We examine voter turnout of inner-city African-American mothers, many of whom are single parents and endure long-term, economic hardship. Previous research suggests that income is a more important factor among these groups than in the general population. We seek to understand the interplay of family structure, income, and voter turnout. Copyright (c) 2006 Southwestern Social Science Association.

Teaching Climate Change in Middle Schools and High Schools: Investigating Stem Education’s Deficit Model

Science teachers play an important role promoting civic scientific literacy, but recent research suggests they are less effective than they could be in educating the next generation of citizens about climate change and its causes. One particular area of concern is that many science teachers in the USA encourage students to debate settled empirical findings, such as the role of human-generated emissions of greenhouse gases in raising global temperatures. A common reaction is to call for science teachers to receive more formal training in climate science to increase their knowledge, which will then improve teaching. Using a nationally representative survey of 1500 middle school and high school science teachers, we investigate each element in this argument, and show that increased science coursework in college has modest effects on teachers’ content knowledge and on their teaching choices, including decisions about debating “both sides.” We also find that teachers’ personal political orientations play a large role in their teaching strategies: right-leaning teachers devote somewhat less time to global warming and are much more likely to encourage student debate on the causes of global warming. We discuss the implications of these findings and argue teacher education might be more effective if informed by insights from the emerging discipline of science communication. However, although knowledge and ideology are predictive of pedagogy, a large number of teachers of all ideological positions and all levels of subject expertise encourage students to debate established findings. We discuss this and highlight potential explanations