Social Science

Modern immigrants' children have climbed the economic ladder as fast as the Ellis Island generation
June 6, 2022
Author
Written by Delaney Parrish, Department of Economics

Long before Leah Boustan was a professor of economics at Princeton, she was a Princeton undergraduate putting the final touches on her senior thesis.

Working alongside her adviser, longtime professor Henry “Hank” Farber, Boustan published a 100-page research project that compared outcomes for students who dropped out of high school in…

Three Princeton faculty members awarded NEH grants to support advanced research in the humanities
Jan. 12, 2022
Author
Written by Jamie Saxon, Office of Communications

A major international project based at Princeton to digitize a “lost archive” from an 18th-century convent and two faculty book projects have received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in a round of grants to…

In new cognitive research, people's eyes reveal that clichés are underrated
Oct. 20, 2021
Author
Written by Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications

As busy people, we juggle many tasks, keep many balls in the air, and try to avoid letting anything drop. In class, instructors toss out ideas; sometimes they go over our heads, but other times we grasp them quickly.

The sentences above contain familiar metaphors, sometimes called clichés: common words or phrases borrowed from physical…

Princeton researchers discover new strategy to encourage vaccinations and masking
Sept. 21, 2021
Author
Written by Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications

In the face of a global pandemic, with more than 200 million global infections and 4 million deaths, and despite unprecedented efforts by public health officials, celebrities and influencers to convince everyone to wear masks and get vaccinated as soon possible, the results are mixed.

Now, two Princeton researchers have discovered an…

Princeton & Mozilla launch technology policy research initiative
June 28, 2021
Author
Written by Staff, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Data-driven public policy depends on data. And, in the area of technology policy, access to data has been a significant barrier to research. Concerned about how online services might intrude on privacy, push hyper-partisan misinformation, or disadvantage their competitors? Those services aren’t sharing the relevant data with researchers.

Study shows how cities can consider race and income in household energy efficiency programs
June 21, 2021
Author
Written by Rachel Nuwer for Engineering Communications

Climate change and social inequality are two pressing issues that often overlap. A new study led by Princeton researchers offers a roadmap for cities to address inequalities in energy use by providing fine-grained methods for measuring both income and racial disparities in energy use intensity. Energy use intensity, the amount of energy used…

A better understanding of 'wet markets' is key to safeguarding human health and biodiversity
June 11, 2021

Great uncertainty surrounds the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Early on, some suggested a link between COVID-19 and a seafood market in Wuhan, China. Other theories are now circulating, though the origins of the virus are still unknown.

In response, governments have pushed for the closing of so-called “wet markets” around the world, but this…

“Think like an expert”: Brain scans watch learning in action
March 26, 2021
Author
Written by Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications

What does learning look like inside the brain?

Can a brain scan reveal if a student is learning a tough curriculum or falling behind?

These and other questions prompted a team of Princeton neuroscientists to launch an ambitious experiment, scanning 24 students’ brains six times during the 2018 spring semester to quite literally…

Archaeological team co-led by Princeton’s Vischak identifies world’s oldest industrial-scale brewery at Abydos, Egypt, ca. 3000 BCE
Feb. 16, 2021
Author
Written by The Office of Communications

A team of American and Egyptian archaeologists excavating at the site of Abydos in southern Egypt has uncovered evidence of the world’s oldest known industrial-scale beer production facility. The ancient complex, more than 5,000 years…

Diversity in policing can improve police-civilian interactions, say Princeton researchers
Feb. 11, 2021

The recent killings of Black Americans have reignited calls for policing reform, including proposals to diversify police departments, which have historically been made up of primarily white, male officers. Yet, few studies have examined whether deploying minority and female officers actually changes police-civilian interactions or reduces…