Xu Co-Authors Study of Factors Affecting Waste Management Practices in Nigeria
Household waste disposal practices such as dumping in public spaces and burning waste at home can create severe environmental threats. In a recent article published in Growth and Change, CSDE Affiliate Dafeng Xu (Evans School) and a co-author present evidence on the factors affecting household waste disposal in Nigeria using national survey data. The study finds that state-level specific waste management authorities are positively associated with sustainable waste disposal practices, conditional on household socioeconomic status, and that this positive association between waste management authorities and sustainable waste disposal is largely absorbed after controlling for regional GDP or GDP per capita. Waste management authorities also play a significant role in influencing waste disposal practices only in states with relatively low levels of GDP (or GDP per capita) – and one important function of these specific waste management authorities is to lower the waste collection fee, so that households in some states would be more able and willing to dispose of waste sustainably. Read the full study here.
CSDE Computational Demography Working Group: Jordan Klein (4/16/25)
CSDE Workshop – Introduction to the Northwest Federal Statistical Research Data Center (NWFSRDC): Enabling Access to Confidential Microdata from U.S. Federal Government Agencies (04/16/25)
Flaxman Co-Authors Study of Disclosure Avoidance Methods for Protecting Transgender Youth
The U.S. Census Bureau collects demographic data every ten years, including sex, age, race, and household relationships. Individuals who disclose changes in recorded sex across censuses could be identified in reconstruction-based linkage attacks. In a recent study published in the Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, CSDE Affiliate Abraham Flaxman (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) and doctoral student Os Keyes (Human Centered Design & Engineering) explored the effectiveness of the Census Bureau’s TopDown approach to disclosure avoidance, finding that it led to a 30 percent decrease in these attacks when compared to previous approaches. Read the full study here.
Evans School Research Seminar: Douglas Houston (4/16/25)
Berridge Quoted in New York Times Article on Cameras in Eldercare Facilities
In the last five years, about 20 U.S. states have passed laws authorizing the use of cameras in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. CSDE Affiliate Clara Berridge’s (Social Work) socio-legal analysis and survey research about cameras in these facilities were both cited in a recent New York Times article on the issue. She states that she views camera as “a symptom, not a solution,” which provides a Band-Aid for residents who have someone to surveil their care but can distract from the work of ensuring quality long-term care for everyone. Read the full article here.
CSDE is Hiring an Administrator!
We are looking for a full-time Administrator to support our population science research infrastructure center funded by the NICHD.
With the Director, the Administrator is a primary point person for the development, coordination and implementation of center-wide efforts (including infrastructure and training grants, as well as reporting for internal and external purposes). The Administrator is the chief financial officer and business manager responsible for financial planning, management and overseeing daily center operations, acting independently and responsibly, given general direction from the Director and within the University’s policies and procedures. These responsibilities include departmental administration, business planning, financial management, personnel, research project support and other functions as necessary. Learn more and apply here.
*New* Post-doctoral Researcher, Centre for Social Inequalities in Population Health – University of Helsinki (5/4/25)
The Max Planck – University of Helsinki Center for Social Inequalities in Population Health is currently seeking to appoint one or more full-time post-doctoral researchers. We welcome applications from researchers with a PhD in demography, sociology, statistics, epidemiology, public health, economics, computer science, and allied fields. The successful candidate(s) will work on one or several of the four research themes of the Center: [1] the links between family and health, [2] the role of genetic factors in shaping health inequalities, [3] international comparisons of health and health inequalities, and [4] developing new methods, in particular longitudinal modelling approaches, methods for causal inference, and techniques leveraging genetic data. Learn more and apply here.
We are also open to applicants interested in other topics covered in the Department Social Demography at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), including fertility, mortality and morbidity, and labor markets. The successful candidate(s) will develop their own agenda within the Center, and they will contribute their skills and knowledge to other projects in the Center and to the MPIDR. We are seeking creative, self-driven, and collaborative scholars. Good knowledge of quantitative methods and statistical software such as R, Python, or Stata is required.
*New* Join CSDE at PAA 2025 Presentations and Attend Our Annual Reception
Following tradition, we are also co-hosting a reception for affiliates, trainees, alumni, friends, and more! We will be joined by Population Center Studies and Training Center at Brown University, the Institute for Social Research Population Studies Center and the Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research at University of Michigan, the California Center for Population Research at UCLA, and the Center for Demography and Ecology and the Center for Demography of Health and Aging at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Please join us on Friday, April 11th from 6:00pm – 8:30pm at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Beer Lab Room. Refreshments and light appetizers will be served. Come enjoy some time with old friends and make some new friends too. See the event flyer here and scan the QR code to RSVP!
