A weekly link round-up of sociological work – work by sociologists, referencing sociologists, or just of interest to sociologists. This scatterplot feature is co-produced with Mike Bader.
The Politics of Knowledge
- Doctors misunderstand diagnostic tests, believing them to be much more accurate and determinative than they often are. (Great for teaching conditional probability!)
- The Seattle Times shows how sociologist Katherine Beckett’s research on racial disparities in Washington state’s death penalty became central to the decision to ban it.
- Economics Nobel Laureate Paul Romer switched to Python to make his research more accessible.
- Sarah Igo compares how privacy concerns manifested in the origins of the IRB system, and current debates over sponsored research on Facebook data.
- David Banks offers a critical take on the recent “Sokal Squared” hoax/scandal/whatever you call it.
Sex, Gender, and Sexism
- Jess Calarco writes about how boys are socialized to “get the girls” from preschool on up, and how we can do better.
- “In effect, Amazon’s system taught itself that male candidates were preferable. It penalized resumes that included the word “women’s,” as in “women’s chess club captain.” And it downgraded graduates of two all-women’s colleges…”
Etc.
- Economic sociology meets environmental disaster in Rebecca Elliott’s excellent work on flood insurance pricing.
- Gianpaolo Baiocchi and Marcelo Silva explain the various groups backing Brazil’s terrifying far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro.
