Search results for friday roundup

On the road again…

Greetings from Chicago, temporary TSP HQ! As dear Doug is off electrifying the Fargo-Moorhead area with his insights into Midnight Basketball and its neoliberal underpinnings, Chris and I are in the City of Broad Shoulders attempting to, I suppose, look broad (posture helps) at the American Society of Criminology meetings. We’re all dumbstruck at the presence of Stephen Pinker and have seen standing room only attendance at many sessions, even when wonderful restaurants and great sights tempt from just outside the conference hotel. At meetings like these, we get a certain jolt of rededication to TSP, meeting with authors as excited about open-access, de-jargon-ified (I’m an editor, let’s call that a word now) social science as we are. Here’s hoping for many very busy Friday Roundups to come, building on the conversations we’re all having on the road. more...

Election? Where?

After last week’s flurry of activity, perhaps a rush to get information to our eager readership (indulge me here) before the American general election that’s now just a few days past (unless you happen to live in Florida), things at The Society Pages have returned to a more reasonable, measured pace. That isn’t, however, to say we’ve gone slack; indeed, this week has brought a broad look at the underpinnings of and possible challenges to power, alongside thoughtful teaching activities and solid advice on just what color tracksuit your dog or cat might require. There’s a lot going on—have a look! more...

Say, Can I Offer You Some Social Science?

As The Society Pages’ associate editor, I’m in a position to see nearly all of the fantastic content that comes across our transom every day, but it’s recently been pointed out that we don’t offer a super simple way for readers to do the same. To that end, I present the first of our (hopefully) weekly Friday Roundups.

This week, we’ve seen a lot of new work, much of it dealing with next week’s U.S. general election, but with some “palate cleansers,” too. Here are all of this week’s articles from across TSP’s departments, as well as a few highlights from our Community Pages. more...

Not at all spooky, but always “soc-y.”

There’s Research on That!

“Justifying Our Love,” by Jacqui Frost. Americans love love, even when it hurts. How have love and culture mingled to create modern “love”? Frost brings research from Eva Illouz, Ann Swidler, Francesca Cancian, and Anthony Giddens.

“Vexed by Vaccination Refusals,” by Caty Taborda. Research on distrust of science and vaccinations, as well as network ties that spread medical knowledge—and sometimes skew it along the way.

The Editors’ Desk:

“The New Yorker: Champion of Serious Sociology,” by Doug Hartmann. Admiring the work of Kelefa Sanneh, Jill Lepore, and Adam Gopnik, who are all bringing sociology’s big ideas to the Big Apple.

Give Methods a Chance:

“Amy Schalet on In-Depth Interviews,” with Kyle Green. A leading sociologist on the methodology behind a time-consuming, but very rewarding, research technique.

Citings & Sightings:

“Books Behind Bars: College Courses in Prisons,” by Neeraj Rajasekar. Using reading for rehabilitation.

“Could Porn Lead to Sex Trafficking?” by Caty Taborda. One researcher argues a correlation between consumption of pornography and demand for sex trafficking.

“The Anti-Vaxxer Vote,” by Caty Taborda. Does vaccination refusal break along party lines?

“Cheats in Cleats,” by Sarah Catherine Billups. When sports scandals break, are they amplified by public notions of sport as an almost sacred space?

“Workplaces May Create Inequalities at Home,” by Caty Taborda. Bringing work home has more than one meaning.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Valentine’s Day Fact Sheet on Healthy Sex,” by Adina Nack.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Schools Adopting Digital Tools Without Evidence that They Boost Student Achievement,” by Patricia Burch, Annalee Good, Caroly J. Heinrich, and Chandi Wagner.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Graphic Sociology on a Stakeholder Theory Diagram (aka, a donut).
• Sociological Images on the late 19th century Supreme Court case that decided whether tomatoes were fruits or vegetables and the globalization of commodified love.
• Cyborgology on using hashtags to speak up in a broad, thoughtful way.

Okay, let’s be real. It’s not Friday. But wouldn’t that be fun? We could annoy ourselves with that Rebecca Black song, merrily chirp “T.G.I.F.!” at passers-by, and dream of our weekend plans… none of which I was doing this past Friday, when I was so mired in work I couldn’t look ahead, let alone behind to sum up the week on TSP. Now’s the time for a little reflection!

Features:

“Same-Sex, Different Attitudes,” by Kathleen Hull. A lot’s changed in just a few years—why are American attitudes on same-sex marriage moving so quickly? more...

Sometimes, time gets away from you! As does debt, as shown in this week’s contribution from Dr. Jason Houle, showing the increase and changes in debt over three generations. Other things that can get away from you: March Madness (I mean, it’s called Madness), the reproduction of sexism and racism, and parental worry.

Features:

“Out of the Nest and Into the Red,” by Jason N. Houle. Three generations of debt reveal changing ideals and life courses. Oh, and debt. more...

Clear Points, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose

When the media flat-out gets your research wrong or presses it into service in an argument that’s the opposite of what you’ve found, it’s hard to get stoked about taking journalists’ calls. But, as pay walls become costlier and less permeable, I’ve got one key, if difficult, bit of academic advice: start giving away the punchline.

Your abstract is now your calling card. “I present findings, discuss implications, and suggest directions for future research” is not a sufficient closing sentence when you may only have 250 words to say what your paper is about, what makes it special, what it actually means. This is to say, if you’re not clearly giving away information in the one place you can*, it’s your fault if others get it wrong. Of course, they still might use your findings in really dumb ways. No controlling that. more...

Citings and Sightings

We’ve got a few quick ones for you to checkout this week:

After our most recent Earth Day, National Public Radio’s Science Friday spoke with sociologist Dana R. Fisher on the state of climate activism including the importance of media attention for shock-based demonstrations and the salience of overlapping social justice motivations for activists.

Axios spoke with Nancy López on her recent research showing that Afro-Latinos have higher educational attainment but lower pay than other Latinos, emphasizing the need for research into the diversity of Latino experiences.

From the Archives

This week, the Met Gala opulently honored the contributions of the controversial Karl Lagerfeld. For some sociological context on why gay men, such as Lagerfeld, find themselves more often in the fashion spotlight than women designers, check out this archive piece.

Yesterday, members of the far-right hate group the Proud Boys were charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. Read this archive piece to understand “The Sociology of the Siege.”

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

People who live closer to protests are more supportive of them, despite experiencing more disruption to their lives according to recent research by Duoduo Xu and Jaio Guo written up for Contexts’ blog by Parker Muzzerall.

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ blog had a Student Spotlight on Rachel Dodson.

Last Week’s Roundup

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(Clockwise from top left) A man sits in front of a document, cup of coffee, and laptop, his head resting in his hands; Father helping daughter with schoolwork; Art Shell, then head coach of the LA Raiders, reaching for a handshake; A Kaiser Permanente ad trumpets the organization’s involvement in 2017’s Washington, D.C. Capital TransPride celebration. Image attributions at the end of the this post.

New and Noteworthy

While the majority of National Football League players are Black, most head coaches are white. On the site, Marissa Kiss, Earl Smith, and Angela J. Hattery question why there as so few Black permanent head coaches when these same men are trusted to lead in the interim.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

From our “Best of 2022” awards, Daniel Cueto-Villalobos summarizes social science research on emotion and precarity that puts interest in the “Great Resignation” into social contexts.

Citings and Sightings

Following Damar Hamlin’s collapse in last week’s Monday-night football game, socio-cultural anthropologist Tracie Canada wrote for Scientific American on the violence Black men experience in football, drawing on the work of sociologists Billy Hawkins and Harry Edwards.

From the Archives

Today it’s Friday the 13th! In honor, check out this piece from partner Sociological Images on how horror films show us our collective nightmares.

From our Partners and Community Pages

Richard J. Petts writes for Council on Contemporary Families’ blog on his research examining the gap between dads’ interest in being involved fathers and their actual contribution to domestic labor, arguing that we have to expect fully engaged dads to achieve gender equality.

Deni Mazrekaj writes for Contexts on the discrimination trans people face in the workplace and how we can work to combat this inequality.

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Image attribution (clockwise from top-left) “Computer Man Stressed Work” by Caio Triana is licensed under CC0; “Untitled” by ddimitrova is licensed under “Pixabay License“; “Art Shell in 2006” by Keith Allison is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0; “2017.05.20 Capital TransPride Washington, DC USA 5177” by Ted Eytan is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

New and Noteworthy

Court fines and fees target and constrain the same groups of people that have been historically disadvantaged by incarceration according to research from Ilya Slavinski and Becky Pettit, written up on the site by Leonardo LaBarre.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

As we round out the year, we reflected on the contributions of some of the “genius” social scientists named 2022 MacArthur Foundation fellows.

Citings & Sightings

The Associated Press and Religion News Service spoke with sociologists John Hawthorne and Jonathan Coley for their report on the tensions facing LGBTQ students at Christian colleges.

From the Archives

Today, news broke that Brittney Griner was released from Russian custody. Check out this piece from partner Engaging Sports on the working conditions of WNBA players that, among other consequences, leads players to seek highly lucrative off-season contracts internationally.

From our Partner and Community Pages

Actually, neighborhood social cohesion has not decreased over time and may actually have increased for some, according to new research from Kira England and colleagues featured on Council on Contemporary Families’ blog. However, some concerning disparities exist between high and low-resource people which is especially concerning given the connection between child and family wellbeing and social cohesion.

For people with synkinesis, masking may provide a welcome respite from the difficulty of communicating with others and expressing themselves when facial movements such as smiling can be impossible or uncomfortable. Faye L. Wachs writes for Contexts’ blog on the “social disability” of facial paralysis that impacts how the self is received, expressed, and interpreted.

Backstage with TSP

This week is our final board meeting of the semester. It’s a bittersweet moment, where we reflect on the accomplishments of the semester and look ahead to coming weeks that (hopefully) feature some more rest, relaxation, and connection. The wheels at TSP do not stop turning during the semester break, we continue to have editor’s meetings, publish new content, re-post our “Best of the Year” pieces, and plan for the coming semester. All the same, we’ll miss seeing each other every Friday morning. Thankfully, we know the weeks will fly by, re-energizing us and inspiring fresh ideas and content for the site.

Last Week’s Roundup

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Image Descriptions and Attribution

Images, clockwise from top left. 1. A wooden gavel sits next to a pair of handcuffs and a stack of spread out cash Judge Gavel, Money And Handcuffs by George Hodan is licensed under CC 1.0. 2.  Jennifer Carlson, Reuben Miller, Emily Wang, and Steven Ruggles. Images courtesy of Macarthur foundation, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 3. A row of colorful adjoining houses in San Francisco. Row Of Homes San Francisco by Cristie Guevara, licensed under CC0 1.0 4. An older white woman and younger Asian American site next to one another, masked on public transit. Generational Differences by Susan Jane Golding, licensed under CC BY 2.0