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Social science

November 30, 2015

UW researchers estimate poverty and wealth from cell phone metadata

The northern and western provinces are divided into cells (the smallest administrative unit of the country), and the cell is shaded according to the average (predicted) wealth of all mobile subscribers in that cell. The southern province is overlaid with a Voronoi diagram that uses geographic identifiers in the call data to divide the region into several hundred thousand small partitions, which each may be as small as a household or a microvillage.

In developing or war-ravaged countries where government censuses are few and far between, gathering data for public services or policymaking can be difficult, dangerous or near-impossible. Big data is, after all, mainly a First World opportunity. But cell towers are easier to install than telephone land lines, even in such challenged areas, and mobile or cellular phones are widely used among the poor and wealthy alike. Now, researchers with the 天美影视传媒 Information School and Computer Science and Engineering…

November 6, 2015

UW women studies department marks 45th anniversary

Nancy Kenney came to the 天美影视传媒 in 1976 with a joint appointment in psychology and women studies. The arrangement was typical 鈥� women studies professors at the UW then had joint appointments, Kenney said, because the program wasn鈥檛 expected to be around long. 鈥淲omen studies was not expected to be a viable academic department,鈥� Kenney said. 鈥淭here was an expectation that issues like those covered in women studies would be brought into mainstream departments. We all had to…

November 4, 2015

Krispy Kreme crack and luxury food fever: new book links overeating to consumer culture

In an era of Fitbits, Skinnygirl margaritas and kale mania, isn鈥檛 overeating simply a failure of willpower, an unwillingness or inability to make good choices? It鈥檚 not that simple, says Kima Cargill, a professor of clinical psychology at the 天美影视传媒 in Tacoma. In her new book 鈥淭he Psychology of Overeating,鈥� Cargill places the blame for gluttony squarely at the feet of a culture gorged on consumerism. She聽contends that abundance of variety, lax regulation and sophisticated branding and marketing…

October 21, 2015

UW autism expert helped shape new 鈥楽esame Street鈥� initiative

During its almost half-century on television, 鈥淪esame Street鈥� has tackled thorny issues ranging from divorce to death,聽food insecurity聽and parental incarceration. The show is now turning its attention to autism, and a 天美影视传媒 expert played a pivotal role in the effort. Wendy Stone, director of the UW鈥檚 Research in Early Autism Detection and Intervention Lab, helped 鈥淪esame Street鈥� develop content for its See Amazing in All Children initiative, which launches today (Oct. 21). Stone thinks the project will promote…

October 7, 2015

New UW report paints sobering picture of urban education in the US

A groundbreaking new report provides a sobering picture of the state of urban education in America, especially when it comes to educational opportunities for poor students and students of color, who now make up the majority of America鈥檚 public school students nationwide. The report provides the first citywide assessment of the changing and complex public school landscape in the U.S., enabling city leaders to assess the overall health of all of their cities鈥� schools, regardless of whether they are district-…

October 6, 2015

UW study finds LGBTQ older adults in Seattle/King County face higher health risks

The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) older adults in Seattle and King County is expected to double by 2030, and they face higher risks of disability, poor health, mental distress and isolation 鈥� along with a social service sector unequipped to deal with their needs. That鈥檚 the conclusion of a study released Oct. 6 and led by professor Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen and colleagues at the 天美影视传媒 School of Social Work. The study identifies widespread social…

September 30, 2015

Ballmers鈥� support for UW School of Social Work reaches $32 million

The 天美影视传媒 will help more social work graduate students pay for their studies and start their careers without staggering debt loads, thanks to significant support from Connie and Steve Ballmer. The Ballmers鈥� contributions include a new gift of $20 million, bringing the couple鈥檚 support for the UW School of Social Work to $32 million over the past five years. The funding is part of the early stages of the university鈥檚 fundraising campaign, expected to be announced next fall….

August 31, 2015

UW students put data science skills to use for social good

They could easily spend their days poring over statistical methods for a genetic study or sorting through data about consumer behavior on the other side of the globe. But this summer, data scientists at the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 eScience Institute took a break from their typical work helping researchers and professors to incorporate cutting-edge technologies and data-based methods into their academic pursuits. Instead, they harnessed their expertise to address pressing urban issues closer to home. In June, the institute launched…

August 24, 2015

To get girls more interested in computer science, make classrooms less ‘geeky’

Women lag behind men in the lucrative computer science and technology industries, and one of the possible contributors to this disparity is that they’re less likely to enroll in introductory computer science courses. A new study of 270 high school students shows that three times as many girls were interested in enrolling in a computer science class if the classroom was redesigned to be less “geeky” and more inviting. The results, by 天美影视传媒 researchers, reveal a practical way…

Blacks hit hardest by public-sector job losses during recession, study finds

Exterior photo of large government building in Mississippi

The public sector has long served as an equalizer in American society, a place where minority workers could find stable employment that offered advancement and a reliable path to a middle-class life. But the Great Recession wiped out many of those jobs, as tax revenues declined and anti-government sentiment added to a contraction that continued long after the recession ended in 2008. Those job cuts disproportionately hurt African-American workers and increased racial disparity in the public sector, a new study…

August 20, 2015

Hunger drives unethical acts, but only in the quest for food

Ever been so hungry that you can’t think of anything but finding food? Research from the UW Foster School of Business finds that the single-mindedness that results from hunger makes people more likely to commit unethical acts to satisfy that hunger 鈥� but less likely to lie, cheat or steal for reasons that don’t address the immediate physiological need.

August 11, 2015

Behaviors linked to adult crime differ in abused girls and boys, study finds

Black and white photo of boy sitting alone outside a brick building.

The signs that an abused child might later commit crimes might not be obvious 鈥� that boisterous playground behavior from a third-grade boy, for example, or the 10-year-old girl who seems a little anxious or withdrawn. But new research from the 天美影视传媒 suggests that troubling behaviors exhibited by abused children can be predictors of later criminal activity, and that those indicators differ between boys and girls. The study, published Aug. 11 in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, found…

August 6, 2015

Abusive men put female partners at greater sexual risk, study finds

Black and white photo of woman sitting alone on stairs

Abusive and controlling men are more likely to put their female partners at sexual risk, and the level of that risk escalates along with the abusive behavior, a UW study found. Published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, the study looked at patterns of risky sexual behavior among heterosexual men aged 18 to 25, including some who self-reported using abusive and/or controlling behaviors in their relationships and others who didn鈥檛. The research found that men who were physically…

July 30, 2015

UW-led group launches plan to reduce youth problems by 20 percent in a decade

Black and white image shot from the back of three boys walking.

A national coalition of experts that includes two 天美影视传媒 researchers has a bold plan to reduce behavioral health problems such as violence and depression among young people across the country by 20 percent in a decade. And their proposal rests on one simple principle: prevention. The group鈥檚 paper, recently published on the National Academy of Medicine website, recommends implementing evidence-based prevention programs on a national scale to reduce a host of problems ranging from drinking to delinquent behavior,…

July 22, 2015

Distinguished faculty to be inducted into Washington State Academy of Sciences

Detail from the Turing exhibit at a science museum

In recognition of their outstanding records of scientific achievement, 12 天美影视传媒 professors聽will be inducted this fall into the聽Washington State Academy of Sciences. The professors will be honored for their 鈥渨illingness to work on behalf of the academy鈥� to bring top-quality scientific methods to research issues pertaining to Washington state. The induction ceremony will聽be held Sept. 17 at the organization’s eighth-annual meeting at the Seattle Museum of Flight. One UW professor joins as a member by virtue of his…

July 7, 2015

Harsh prison sentences swell ranks of lifers and raise questions about fairness, study finds

Stricter state sentencing laws in Washington have swelled the ranks of inmates serving life sentences to nearly one in five. And some lifers who opted to go to trial are serving much longer sentences than others who committed the same crimes and plea-bargained 鈥� raising questions about equitable treatment of prisoners. Those are among the findings in a new analysis by undergraduate honors students in the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 Law, Societies & Justice program, who sought to determine the number…

June 22, 2015

Manning up: Men may overcompensate when their masculinity is threatened

A hand gripping

From the old Charles Atlas ads showing a scrawny male having sand kicked in his face to sitcom clich茅s of henpecked husbands, men have long faced pressure to live up to ideals of masculinity. Societal norms dictating that men should be masculine are powerful. And new 天美影视传媒 research finds that men who believe they fall short of those ideals might be prompted to reassert their masculinity in small but significant ways. Published last week in Social Psychology, the…

May 21, 2015

Students put GIS skills to use on social justice projects

Geography professor Sarah Elwood sits at the front of a 天美影视传媒 classroom on a recent afternoon, listening and making suggestions as students discuss the data challenges they’re having. Some are wondering how to put data in a particular format. Others are muddling through the process of mapping data, or figuring out where to source information. 鈥淭hink about who has the data you need, and how do you shake it loose from them?鈥� Elwood says. 鈥淭here are many public…

May 20, 2015

UW-led network seeks to reframe poverty locally and globally

Two 天美影视传媒 geography professors are leading an effort with what might be considered a staggeringly ambitious goal 鈥� to reframe how poverty is perceived and studied around the world. Victoria Lawson and Sarah Elwood are the co-founders of the UW-based Relational Poverty Network, a coalition of academic institutions and organizations around the United States and as far away as Europe, Asia and Africa. The network seeks to recast perceptions of poverty from something impacting others 鈥� what Lawson…