The claim that qualitative work is about “making sense” of the world in a way that quantitative work is not seems very strange to me. I don’t think this distinction can bear any real weight. Again, this is all independent of confidentiality, protection, etc. Context: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Exempting research from sharing data because it could lead to the identification of research subjects is very reasonable but also orthogonal to whether the data is “qualitative” or “quantitative”. Meanwhile the latter distinction, despite much magical thinking, is one that no-one can clearly define.

I'm teaching an online workshop on ABM and model-based thinking through ICPSR next month. Details linked below in case you or someone you know is interested.

I’ve grown super worried about LLM agents w/ access to all my files and secrets. Existing sandboxes and containers felt hard to use day-to-day, so I built a small convenient utility to keep agents away from important stuff. It’s called “bulle” (for “bubble”). 1/2 vincentarelbundock.github.io/bulle

shoutout to @hannahrecht.bsky.social for a fantastic R package. This is a great way to get US census data: github.com/hrecht/censu... #EconSky

This is the clearest and most accessible introduction to DML I've ever read: arxiv.org/abs/2504.08324 Congrats to the authors @aahrens.bsky.social, @markeschaffer.bsky.social, et al on this amazing paper and great accompanying R package! I'm now DML-pilled.

NASA isn't why the US doesn't have universal healthcare, or a social safety net. The US doesn't have those things because politicians with the power to provide them choose specifically not to (with varying levels of support from voters). Enthusiasm for human spaceflight doesn't drive that choice.

we have a new paper in the April issue of Political Psychology. in this (admittedly quite lovely) new paper, @stephenvaisey.com, @pablobellode.bsky.social and I make a simple point: using panel data to understand belief change is very hard. we highlight an empirical intractability in the process:

there are many out there thinking that it's beneficial to use AI tools for coding, but treat writing as a sacrosanct activity. I think this distinction is a mystification. I discuss why scholarly work is essentially a project, and it's about curating as much as it is refining:

It’s not just that there is no requirement, but ASA prohibits any requirement. This is why I am no longer an ASA member and won’t serve on ASA journal editorial boards.

Sociologists may be even more able than other academics to hold these two insecurities in their heads at once: (1) My work is brilliant and everyone wants to steal it; (2) my work is pathetic and it's only a matter of time before I am exposed. Both are excuses to not follow basic science norms.

Interesting use of open ends to show how partisan-leaning independents differ from both "pure" independents and weak and strong partisans onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🚀 Postdoc Alert! Are you passionate about social learning & cultural evolution? @dominikdeffner.bsky.social & I have a 3-year position with freedom to develop your research and work on cutting-edge multiplayer and immersive experiments. Apply by March 30! hmc-lab.com/SocialLearni... Pls share 🙏

lots of good points have already been made on using AI Agents for cheating (e.g. the latest Canvas-bot), it degrades learning, etc. One additional thing I'd like to point out: if you use this stuff, you're not being clever, you're just an asshole. to explain:

Great piece from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social, which touches on one of the big theories for why English-speaking countries do especially badly at housebuilding: Adversarial and litigious common law systems (Anglo) vs judge-led civil law systems elsewhere. samf.substack.com/p/build-the-...

Here’s my new Substack post about the value of being curious about new fields and literatures. open.substack.com/pub/davebrad...

Please share - multiple summer 2026 in-person undergrad internship opportunities at @pewresearch.org! - religion - digital - social trends - data journalism - global - news - internet - AI - admin - race - science - methods - politics Apply soon! pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

✨ We’re excited to announce the Spring 2026 IAS Seminar Series, featuring a stellar lineup of speakers and thought-provoking talks. Open to all! #AcademicSky

Join “Multilevel & Mixed Models w/ #Stata & ChatGPT” w/ @stephenvaisey.com, Feb. 18-20 for an intensive intro to multilevel models. Learn the (real) difference between fixed & random effects, how to combine both in a single model, & how #ChatGPT can help design, estimate, and interpret your models.

I don't know about an AI bubble in the stock market but there's definitely an AI bubble in academia.

I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3

Breaking: Francesca Gino to receive @FIFAWorldCup prize in economics

This talk by @simine.com about what other fields can learn from the crisis in psychology is excellent. I so wish sociology was listening. If 10% of sociologists knew 50% of what she says then research in sociology would be 100% better.

when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes

How do people form beliefs about complex topics? Happy to report our Bayesian model of the psychology of Bayesian updating is out in @ispp-pops.bsky.social! (w/ Gabriel Li & Krosnick) If you gloss over the Greek, it's a new model for how to assess the impacts of information on summary judgments.

Apply now to our next Summer School! 🤝 We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences. Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...

Semesters are too damn long

Academic tip: sometimes you have to write "Importantly," to get a sentence started and then you can go back and delete it.

We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/

Here is another way to put the paradox. If you ask, "If I had different genes, would my personality be different?" Then the answer is, "Probably, yes." If you ask, "If I had THESE genes, what would my personality be like?", the answer is, "We don't have any idea."

Term has started here, so I'm once again inundated with emails addressed "Sir" (used in UK secondary schools), "Mr" (same), and "heyyyyy" (??). Seems this brief blog for new students is still relevant: www.dalmaijer.org/2022/03/how-... Feel free to use, if you find yourself in the same position!

Good point. Academia's love affair with journal status, which is at the root of its reluctance to embrace open access alternatives to the for-profit journals, facilitates the spread of misinformation. Hard for truth to get its boots on when the boots are locked behind a paywall.

The number of people who will respond to "Ask me for a copy" is a tiny fraction of those who would love to click on a non-paywalled link. Don't make people ask. SocArXiv is free to share, free to read, non-profit, academy-owned at a public university. Hello! Thanks for sharing.

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

@sociologicalsci.bsky.social is an awesome journal. Nothing less. #sociology

Religiosity & gender attitudes go hand-in-hand. But which influences which? New study by McElroy et al. shows earlier gender views tend to predict religious trajectories more than the reverse (except for young women). Once again: Cultural/political conflicts --> Religion doi.org/10.1177/2378...

Friends don't let friends give preregistration a bad name. Exploratory findings are fine; you just have to label them!

We're hiring in wonderful Copenhagen 🇩🇰 Two or more open rank sociology professorships (tt assistant, associate with tenure, or full prof with tenure). You'll join a leading sociology department in Europe with many core fields represented! #sociology More 👇 jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...

This is a paper I really care about. I feel the core message is very important for social scientists in general, and political scientists in particular. "Quantitative Research in Political Science is Greatly Underpowered." (with A+ co-authors)

JOB ALERT FOR #SOCIOLOGIST: Come work with me. We have FOUR Assistant Professor positions in the Sociology Department at the University of Calgary. careers.ucalgary.ca/jobs/1672106...

Come work with us at USC! We're hiring an NSF-funded Postdoc for the Everyday Respect Project. 🤖 You'll work directly with me, Ben Graham, and Shri Narayanan, using cutting-edge AI to analyze police body-worn camera footage to improve police-community relations.

TWO new Assistant Professor positions in Sociology at USC! Seeking candidates with expertise in the following: 1) Institutions & Inequalities and 2) Socially Informed AI and/or Data Science (links to job ads below👇). Happy to talk about what it's like to work/live here! #sociology (1/3)

Our #Sociology department is looking for an #AssistantProfessor in the field of Social Inequality (with the possibility for a permanent contract). www.academictransfer.com/en/jobs/3546... @sociologytiu.bsky.social @tilburg-university.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social #academicjobs

Join "Multilevel and Mixed Models Using R" with @stephenvaisey.com on Oct. 8-10 for an intensive intro to multilevel models. Learn the (real) difference between fixed & random effects and how to combine the strengths of both into a single model using #Rstats.

New job ad: Assistant Professor of Quantitative Social Science, Dartmouth College apply.interfolio.com/172357 Please share with your networks. I am the search chair and happy to answer questions!

A terrorist targeted federal workers last week. There wasn’t much reporting on it. But I’m not finished thinking about it! 🧵 An anti-vaxxer fired more than 500 gunshots into CDC Atlanta, shattering 150 “blast-proof” windows on 6 buildings. Employees were pinned down in terror.