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Editor:
Tonya Allen
allen@pop.psu.edu
PRInformation
Fall 2005
New External Research Funding
Collaborative Research: Measuring Spatial Segregation
Dr. Stephen Matthews, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and demography, Dr. Glenn Firebaugh, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography, Dr. Barrett Lee, professor of sociology and demography, and Dr. Sean Reardon, associate professor of education, have received funding for two years from NSF for this project which will develop, evaluate, and refine measures of spatial segregation; develop software tools and provide training to enable the research community to make use of these measures; and employ these measures to describe patterns and trends of residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas from 1980-2000.
The Effect of Federal Food Program Participation on Diet Quality, Body Weight Status, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Children 2-18 Years Old: NHANES 1999-2002
Dr. Sibylle Kranz, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, and Dr. Jill Findeis, professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics and demography, received funding for one year from USDA/UC-Davis to investigate the relationships between food stamp and/or WIC participation and overall diet quality, body weight status, and CVD risk factors of program participants compared to eligible non-participants in a nationally representative sample of children 2-18 years old.
The International Religion Data Initiative: Documenting Religion's Impact in the International Arena
Dr. Roger Finke, professor of sociology and religious studies, received funding from the John Templeton Foundation for three years to create an International Religion Data Initiative which will generate, assemble, and archive quality international data on religion. This data will fuel research and equip journalists, policy-makers, and the general public with more accurate information on religion in the international arena. The Initiative will set an agenda and offer resources for understanding the powerful effects of religion worldwide.
Multi-City Study of the Effects of Welfare Reform on Children
Dr. Linda Burton, professor of human development and family studies, sociology and demography, received funding for two years from The Annie Casey Foundation and Johns Hopkins University to develop new survey questions in the areas of health, marriage, and children's labor in families, using the extensive Three-City Study ethnographic dataset.
Neighborhood Food Environment, Diet and Health: Quasi-Experimental Study
Dr. Stephen Matthews, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and demography, Dr. Steve Cummins (University of London), and Dr. Ana Diez Roux (University of Michigan) received funding for two years from NIH/NIEHS for an innovative pilot study which will use a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact on diet and psychological health of a five-year $40 million state-government funded program -- The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative -- that aims to improve the local built food retail environment in Philadelphia.
Social Demography and Adolescent Obesity
Dr. Molly Martin, assistant professor of sociology, and Dr. Michelle Frisco, assistant professor of sociology, with colleague Dr. Gary Sandefur (University of Wisconsin) received funding for three years from NICHD to study the socio-demographic causes and consequences of adolescent obesity. The project, which emphasizes the social and behavioral dimensions of this epidemic, has three primary goals: to explore the family-level social factors that predict adolescent weight net of genetic influences using data on sibling pairs; to explore how overweight during adolescence impacts several demographic markers of young people's transition to adulthood (e.g. academic attainment, union formation, childbearing, and entry into the work force); and to explore young people's weight trajectories as they move from adolescence into early adulthood.
Spatiotemporal Dimensions of Population Change in the Northern Orkney Islands, c. 1735-2000
Dr. James Wood, professor of anthropology and demography, Dr. Patricia Johnson, associate professor of anthropology, women's studies and demography, Dr. Stephen Matthews, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and demography, and Dr. Tim Murtha, assistant professor of landscape architecture, have received funding for three years from NSF's Human and Social Dynamics program to learn how a sustainable, preindustrial demographic system was dismantled and turned into one at high risk of ultimate extinction. The project is unusual in focusing on changes in the spatial organization of settlement and production as an integral part of the processes resulting in demographic destabilization.
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