Monthly Archives: March 2012

An Emotional Rollercoaster: Trends in Subjective Wellbeing During the Economic Downturn

Posted on March 26, 2012 by

Since 2008 Gallup has polled a random sample of 1,000 Americans daily (link here) about their subjective well-being. The data provide a rich basis for examining the short-run effects of the economic recession on self-reported happiness, life evaluation, and stress. … Continue reading →

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The harms of hidden research – Part II

Posted on March 22, 2012 by

Last week I wrote about the need for transparency in inequalities research -  how hidden research both reduces the truthfulness of its claims, and how it works against the collective nature of social science. This week I want to finish off my … Continue reading →

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Bringing Religion Back into the Study of Health Inequality

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

It’s a story that is recounted in every introductory sociology course: in the 1890s Emile Durkheim conducted a groundbreaking study to understand the variations and causes of suicide within industrializing French society. As Durkheim discovered, religious affiliation was a major … Continue reading →

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The harms of hidden research

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

It’s all about the ‘killer facts’. If you want to get social science into policy, then – as Alex Stevens’ wonderful covert ethnography of high-level policymaking shows – killer facts are the name of the game.  And we try hard on … Continue reading →

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Does College Make You Liberal?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob… There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren’t taught … Continue reading →

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The mysterious non-claiming unemployed

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

Throughout the financial crisis there’s been a puzzle gnawing at me, which seems critically important – yet has been barely mentioned. It’s glaringly obvious when looking at the BBC news reports after every release of the unemployment figures, the latest … Continue reading →

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Why don’t we want to pay unemployment benefits? Pt.2

Posted on March 6, 2012 by

This is part two of my duo of posts on why support for unemployment benefits seems to have crashed over the last 15-20 years. Last time I focused on what’s been going on in people’s heads. I argued that people … Continue reading →

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Income, health, and payday deaths

Posted on March 1, 2012 by

It’s hardly news that poorer people have worse health on average – but teasing apart the link of income and health is harder. The income-health gradient could be because people lose income when they have health problems, or it could … Continue reading →

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