This Week's Social Science Research Roundup (Jan. 31, 2022)

10 cool social studies to whet your appetite

Welcome to the first Holbein social science roundup!

This week’s roundup features research on police body cameras in Brazil, the effects of local politics on housing policy, gendered letters of recommendation in economics, fact checking, persuading yourself, cows!, and more.

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And if you have a study you think I should feature here, feel free to email me: holbein@virginia.edu.

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1. “Electing a Democrat as mayor leads to increased multi-family housing production.”

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2. “Women [economics job market candidates] are systematically more likely to be described using ‘grindstone’ terms and at times less likely to be praised for their ability.”

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3. Radio dramas in Burkina Faso reduced violent extremism.

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4. Fact checking reduces fake news sharing on Facebook.

   

   

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5. "When people have to argue for a given position, they persuade themselves about the position’s factual and moral superiority."

   

   

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   6. Giving poor people in India 2 cows + 30 weeks of a subsistence stipend led to 20% higher consumption a decade later.

   

   

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   7. Experiment in Brazil shows some potential drawbacks of police body cameras.

   

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8. "In the semester when teaching moved online, female lecturers were evaluated more poorly than in previous semesters."

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9. “Informing individuals about their neighbors’ plans to visit restaurants increases the fraction of participants visiting restaurants by…37%”

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10. “In a field experiment with about 2,700 beneficiaries of unemployment benefits, we evaluate the effectiveness of a self-directed website that supplements assistance traditionally delivered by job center staff.”