Data Science Seminar: Andrew Gelman, “The Statistical Crisis in Science”

Top journals routinely publish ridiculous, scientifically implausible claims, justified based on “p < 0.05.” And this in turn calls into question all sorts of more plausible, but not necessarily true, claims, that are supported by this same sort of evidence. To put it another way: we can all laugh at studies of ESP, or ovulation and voting, but what about MRI studies of political attitudes, or stereotype threat, or, for that matter, the latest potential cancer cure?

Emilio Zagheni Leverages Facebook as a Tool for Demographic Research

In an article published last week in Population and Development Review, CSDE Training Director Emilio Zagheni and co-authors present Facebook’s advertising platform as a novel strategy for estimating migration data. Facebook provides a free and accessible means for researchers and advertisers alike to find relevant socio-demographic information about users, which they can then sort by geographic location. Considering the dearth of data sources available for assessing progress towards goals such as sustainable development,

Eleanor Brindle Develops Method for Assessing Micronutrient Deficiencies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In a recent article, CSDE Biodemography Lab Manager Eleanor Brindle and colleagues present a technique to address the issue of limited information on the status micronutrient deficiencies in the populations of low- and middle-income countries. The micronutrients of concern to the authors are vitamin A, iron, and iodine, deficiencies of which are public health concerns in a number of low- and middle-income nations. Lead author Brindle and her co-authors developed a 7-plex immunoassay that enables the concurrent measurement of seven biomarkers used to determine the status of these micronutrients in populations of concern.

Janelle Taylor Receives Funding from National Institute on Aging for Study on Health Outcomes for Dementia Patients

Janelle S. Taylor, affiliate and Professor in the Department of Anthropology, has received funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for a new study titled “Health Outcomes for Patients with Dementia without Family Caregivers.” This two-year R21 project includes both quantitative and qualitative components, and will be a collaboration between Taylor as PI and colleagues from Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute; the VA Puget Sound Health Care System; UW Medicine, Social Work, Anthropology;

Data Science Incubation Program

The UW eScience Institute is pleased to announce
the Data Science Incubation Program – Winter 2018

The goal of the Data Science Incubator is to enable new science by bringing together data scientists and domain scientists to work on focused, intensive, collaborative projects. Our team of data scientists provides expertise in state-of-the-art technology and methods in statistics and machine learning, data manipulation and analytics at all scales, cloud and cluster computing, software design and engineering,

Moving to Despair? Migration and Well-Being in Pakistan

Valerie Mueller, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University

Internal migration has the potential to substantially increase income, especially for the poor in developing countries, and yet migration rates remain low. We explore the role of psychic costs by evaluating the impacts of internal migration on a suite of well-being indicators using a unique, 22-year longitudinal study in rural Pakistan. We account for selection into migration using covariate matching. Migrants have roughly 35 to 40 percent higher consumption per adult equivalent,

Lecturer in Population Studies/Demography

The School of Geography and Sustainable Development is seeking to appoint a Lecturer with expertise in Population Studies/Demography. We are looking for candidates with excellent research profiles in any area of population research. Candidates should have strong skills in demographic and quantitative data analysis and be capable of contributing to the Human Geography undergraduate teaching programme and to a planned taught postgraduate programme in Demography/Population Analysis.

Candidates should hold a PhD in demography,

Assistant Professor in Human Geography

This is an exciting opportunity to appoint outstanding individuals to three Assistant Professorships in Human Geography whose work will complement and extend the current work in any one (or more) of our research clusters (Economy and Culture; Geographies of Life; Politics – State – Space; Urban Worlds). We are looking for first-rate scholars in their field and we encourage work that develops a range of theoretical, conceptual and/or methodological approaches. Work with relevance to the topics of the Global Challenges identified by RCUK would be an advantage and we anticipate that one post will offer expertise in Geographic Information Systems.

Assistant Professor of Migration Studies

New College of Florida invites applications for a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor focusing on Migration Studies. This position is open with regard to field of PhD, and the appointment will be in that field with the opportunity of a joint appointment in another field or interdisciplinary program.

Candidates should have a PhD in a relevant discipline, teaching experience, a career interest in liberal arts education, and a vibrant research agenda. The person filling this line will be expected to teach courses on migration and build and coordinate interdisciplinary initiatives related to this subject,

Postdoctoral Associate – Cornell Population Center

The Cornell Population Center (CPC) invites applicants for the Frank H.T. Rhodes Postdoctoral Fellowships. The start date for the position will be August 16, 2018 and it will be funded for 2 years, subject to a satisfactory first year evaluation. Selection will be based on scholarly potential, ability to work in multi-disciplinary settings, and the support of a CPC faculty affiliate at Cornell who will serve as mentor, working closely with the Postdoctoral Associate. Preference will be given to fellows with research interests in areas broadly related to the CPC’s four main foci: families &