Social sciences

Baltimore, Maryland, is one of three local governments selected to work with J-PAL North America to evaluate solutions to homelessness, recidivism, and other policy challenges.

J-PAL North America partners with local governments to tackle homelessness and reduce incarceration

Selected cities and counties will receive funding and technical support from J-PAL to test innovative strategies in the fight against poverty.

June 30, 2017

“One of the most frequent questions that we get at J-PAL is a version of, ‘So a program worked in one place. Is it likely to work in my context?’” says Mary Ann Bates, the deputy executive director of J-PAL North America.

How J-PAL thinks globally and acts locally

Can an antipoverty program work in different settings? A new report presents a user’s guide to a tough issue.

June 28, 2017

A new study by an MIT-based team of economists has developed a novel way of evaluating Value-Added Models (VAMs), which assess teachers and schools.

Testing the metrics

MIT researchers refine yardstick for measuring schools and teachers.

June 14, 2017

2017 SHASS Infinite Mile Award recipients pose with Dean Melissa Nobles. Left to right: Daniel Irvine, Albert Wang, Luis "Cuco" Daglio, Melissa Nobles, Ana Ludwig, and Barbara Keller.

Melissa Nobles announces recipients of the 2017 SHASS Infinite Mile Awards

Awards presented to five exceptional staff members of the MIT community.

May 12, 2017

MIT researchers have found that Medicaid recipients are 20 percent more likely to wait more than 20 minutes to begin a scheduled appointment, compared to privately insured patients.

Testing their patients

Medicaid patients wait longer to see doctors, study finds.

May 1, 2017

Introducing acclaimed sociologist Arlie Hochschild to MIT, Catherine Gamon, director of the Sloan Student Life Office said, "Hochschild tries to scale an 'empathy wall' to understand her interviewees’ perspectives on the interplay of politics, business, and culture. To me this fits beautifully with MIT's desire to have an impact, and to bring heart into the equation — mind, hand, and heart."

In MIT visit, sociologist Arlie Hochschild discusses U.S. political divisions

At Mens et Manus America event, Hochschild recommends three pillars of action for finding common ground among U.S. voters.

April 10, 2017

MIT graduate programs earn top marks from US News

Graduate engineering and economics programs are No. 1 in the nation; MIT Sloan is No. 4.

March 14, 2017

$“We have a fractured society,” says MIT professor Peter Temin. “The middle class is vanishing.” His new book, “The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy,” is being published this month by MIT Press.$

America’s two-track economy

Economist’s new book examines decline of the nation’s middle class.

March 13, 2017

Planned in secret over a year and a half to mark David Pesetsky's 60th birthday, a surprise celebration featured panel discussions on two linguistics topics of keen interest to Pesetsky — case and wh-questions — and was rounded out with poster sessions and a celebratory dinner.

David Pesetsky honored by MIT Linguistics colleagues and alumni

Surprise gathering and "Festschrift" salute Pesetsky's research, influence, and teaching in linguistics.

March 6, 2017

The power of perceptions

Study shows how information sources affect voters.

February 28, 2017

J-PAL North America aims to make rigorous evaluation of key questions in social policy easier for researchers with a new catalog.

Cheaper, faster randomized evaluations

J-PAL North America releases new catalog of administrative data sets to give researchers a leg up in conducting rigorous evaluations of social programs.

February 17, 2017

A new study co-authored by MIT scholars shows regions of the U.S. where medical providers are most likely to offer tests and treatments, given populations with equivalent levels of underlying health. Areas with greater “diagnostic intensity,” as the researchers call it, are in red.

Measuring “diagnostic intensity”

New study maps U.S. regions where patients appear more ill than they are

February 15, 2017

Christian Soura, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, speaks at MIT.

Government leaders gather at MIT to advance evidence-based policymaking

State and local policymakers joined with leading researchers to share experiences overcoming challenges to evaluating government programs.

February 9, 2017

Researchers are testing behavioral science strategies to nudge high-risk individuals away from crime.

Testing strategies for preventing violence and crime

J-PAL North America funds randomized studies to evaluate crime-prevention programs.

January 31, 2017

A new technique can better extract correct answers from large groups of people. For a given question, people are asked two things: What they think the right answer is, and what they think popular opinion will be. The variation between the two aggregate responses indicates the correct answer.

Better wisdom from crowds

MIT scholars produce new method of harvesting correct answers from groups.

January 25, 2017

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