WSU researchers will receive a national award for designing a new survey method that is now used in censuses around the world.
WSU Regents Professor Don Dillman and a team of former graduate students will receive the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research. The last award was granted in 2015 to Nate Silver, creator of FiveThirtyEight , the statistics-based news site.
The WSU team’s innovation is overcoming the negative effects that modern communication trends have on public opinion survey results by turning to an old-school source: postal mail.
Yes they do – regardless of whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, according to new research by Washington State University sociologists.
Christine Horne, professor of sociology, and Emily Kennedy, assistant professor of sociology, published a study in the journal Energy Policy that shows many Americans would prefer to power their homes with wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy if given the option.
For some, the battle lines over environmental policy are drawn on religious—not necessarily political—grounds, suggests a new study by sociologists at the University of Nebraska and Washington State University.
The study in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion found that religious ideologies are driving opposition to environmental spending. More specifically, evangelical Protestants—usually perceived as the most conservative of Christians—are less likely to support environmental spending based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Johnson
The findings were culled from surveys collected from 1984 to 2012. Study co-author Erik Johnson, WSU associate professor of sociology, looked at three possible causes of evangelicals’ opposition to environmental spending: church attendance, political affiliation and biblical literalism. Only biblical literalism played a significant role across all three decades studied, and when comparing evangelicals to all other religious groups.
The findings may also explain why President Donald Trump felt core supporters would approve of his June 1 action to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, despite its favorability to the general public. Evangelical Protestants, who largely supported Trump, tend to disagree.
Three faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences are among the nine junior faculty from across WSU colleges and campuses who received New Faculty Seed Grants to kick-start development of their research, scholarly or creative portfolios.
Grant winners and their projects include:
Zachariah Heiden: Using fluorescent dyes for the generation of switchable catalysts, Department of Chemistry
Emily Huddart Kennedy: Green consumerism and social inequality, Department of Sociology
Shannon Scott: Asian and Asian American wind quintet commissions tour and recording project, School of Music
The Office of Research and Office of the Provost support the annual New Faculty Seed Grants to help junior faculty develop research, scholarly or creative programs that lead to sustained professional development and extramural funding.
Faculty who have been at WSU for less than four years were encouraged to send in proposals. This year, 49 proposals were received. Each proposal underwent a rigorous process that included a primary review by an emphasis area review panel, followed by a secondary review by the Research and Arts Committee.
The nine selected proposals represent the range of scholarly activity taking place at WSU. The total amount of grant funding is $259,280.
Two members of the College of Arts and Sciences are among the four WSU faculty to receive the 2016-17 Sahlin awards at the Showcase Celebrating Excellence Recognition Banquet on March 31.
KmecParks
Julie Kmec, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Sociology, will receive the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction; and Craig Parks, professor of psychology and assistant vice provost, will receive the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Leadership. » More …
WSU Regents Professor Don Dillman and a team of former graduate students will receive the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research. The last award was granted in 2015 to Nate Silver, creator of FiveThirtyEight , the statistics-based news site.
