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2011

January 2011 | archive

Lloyd JohnstonMarijuana smoking among US teens is on the rise, outpacing cigarette usage, according to the annual Monitoring the Future survey conducted by research scientist Lloyd Johnston. These and other findings were featured in radio and television spots across the country, and in news articles on sites ranging from USA Today to latimes.com to High Times magazine.

The study, released December 14, showed that more than 21 percent of high school seniors reported smoking marijuana, compared to 19.2 percent who said they smoke cigarettes. It is the first time since 1981 that pot has trumped tobacco among high school seniors. According to Johnston, the rise in marijuana use is understandable given that the current generation of teens has been exposed to fewer anti-drug messages. "Young people are increasingly seeing marijuana as not dangerous," Johnston said. The Obama administration's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, blamed the increase in part on the publicity surrounding medical marijuana, declaring that, "...the legitimizing of marijuana and calling it medicine is absolutely the wrong message to give to young people."

The study of more than 46,000 8th, 10th, and 12th graders reported that ecstasy use also rose in all three grades. But alcohol use and binge drinking continued to decline; 12th graders reported drinking less than in any year since the study began in 1975, and drinking among 8th and 10th grade students was also at an historic low.

Miles KimballRacially segregated, high-crime neighborhoods can take an unexpected toll on residents' health, according to a study by epidemiologist Vicki Freedman. The study, featured in the December 13 Medical News Today, showed that older men and women living in such neighborhoods--whether Black or white--are much more likely to develop cancer than older people in safer and less segregated neighborhoods, even after controlling for health and income levels.

The increase for men was 31 percent, and for women, 25 percent. The similarity of the impact on men and women, despite differences in the types of cancer each gender develops, suggests that "a nonspecific biological mechanism may be involved," Freedman says, "possibly a stress response that interrupts the body's ability to fight the development of cancer cells."

2010

November/December 2010

Sarah BurgardWorking mothers get up at night to care for children and others far more than working fathers, according to research by PSC sociologist Sarah Burgard. Burgard's study, reported by UPI on November 18, showed that women not only get up more often, they stay up longer. The gender gap was most pronounced during the prime childbearing and child-rearing years. "Women face greater fragmentation and lower quality of sleep at a crucial stage in their careers," Burgard said. This sleep interruption, she said, "may represent an under-recognized 'motherhood penalty' that influences life changes and well-being." Burgard discusses her research on sleep interruptions in a video on the ISR YouTube page.

Thomas Fuller-RowellPerforming well in school can exact a high social cost for African-American and Native American teens, particularly those in high-achieving schools who are part of a racial minority, according to a study by ISR researcher Thomas Fuller-Rowell. Fuller-Rowell's study of more than 13,000 students in grades 7-12 was featured November 24 in Inside School Research, an Education Week blog. Social acceptance among white, Asian, and Hispanic youth rose with their GPAs, Fuller-Rowell found, but Black and Native American students experienced the reverse. Fuller-Rowell said the analysis didn't explain why there are racial and ethnic differences in the social impact of school achievement. But he cautioned that the analysis strongly suggested that racial dynamics in schools have an important influence on students' lives and "are likely to be an important mechanism behind racial/ethnic gaps in achievement."

Miles KimballThe Economist included a study by PSC researcher Miles Kimball in a November 29 article about the role of a country's average income levels in its sense of well-being. The study, conducted by Kimball and three Cornell University economists, found that respondents presented with life choices often select options they feel would make them less happy in order to get greater monetary gains. For example, about 70 percent of respondents said they would be happier to be earning $80,000 a year rather than $140,000 in order to increase nightly sleep from six hours to seven-and-a-half hours. Yet 17 percent of those same respondents said if actually faced with the choice, they would put aside happiness and take the higher paying job. Similarly, about two-thirds of people surveyed said they would be happier making less money and living near friends than earning a higher salary but living among strangers, but 22 percent of those respondents said they would still move to the city with the higher salary.

October 2010

Newsweek cited a study by SRC researchers Paul Mohai and Byoung-Suk Kweon in a September 30 article about the nationwide problem of "sick" schools. In their ongoing study, Mohai and Kweon found that a majority of Michigan students attend schools in some of the state's most polluted areas. Moreover, poor children and children of color are disproportionately affected. While 56 percent of white children attend schools in the top ten percent of most polluted areas, 69 percent of Hispanic children and 92 percent of Black students do so. In addition, schools in areas of high pollution are often located in the more toxic spots within those zones.

L. Rowell HuesmannRCGD Director L. Rowell Huesmann and RCGD researcher and psychologist Eric Dubow were quoted in an eMaxHealth article regarding the psychological impacts on children of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The September 17 article described a recent study by the researchers showing that the substantial conflict-related violence witnessed by Israeli and Palestinian children has caused great psychological damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder and a high incidence of violence or threatened violence toward peers. "Violence is a contagious disease just like small pox and typhoid," said principal investigator Huesmann, "and children are particularly susceptible to catching it."

Robert WillisThe New York Times featured research by economist and PSC/SRC researcher Robert Willis in an October 11 article about whether early retirement has a negative affect on memory. In a study that drew on research from the Health and Retirement Study and similar studies in twelve European countries, Willis and his co- author analyzed the results of memory tests and concluded that participants performed better in countries where people work longer before retirement. "There is evidence that social skills and personality skills-getting up in the morning, dealing with people, knowing the value of being prompt and trustworthy-are also important," Willis told the Times. "They go hand in hand with the work environment." The study does not identify what aspect of work may play a role in maintaining memory function.

September 2010

In an August 26 op-ed piece in The Detroit Free Press, PSC research assistant professor David Harding argued that inner-city youth violence is likely to continue unless and until the nation commits to reducing the fundamental drivers of that violence—concentrated poverty and racial segregation.
Listen to a BNN News video in which Harding discusses his new book, Living the Drama

Time magazine featured the research of RCGD psychologist Daphna Oyserman in an August 20 article about what motivates kids to do their homework. Oyserman's study of seventh- and eighth-graders in Detroit showed that students who understand that studying may result in a higher-paying job are more likely to do homework than those who don't.
Podcast of Oyserman discussing her research

CPS researchers Vincent Hutchings and Arthur "Skip" Lupia were quoted in a Politico article speculating that singling out certain Republicans as "bad guys" may not be an effective strategy for the Obama administration. In the August 17 article, "White House Searches for a Villain," Hutchings and Lupia agreed that attacking the records of lesser-known Republican politicians is unlikely to have much impact beyond donors and the Democratic base. "Where they go off the rails is where they start assuming that people are familiar with the minutiae," Hutchings told Politico.

May 2010

National Public Radio's Science Friday, Morning Edition, and Talk of the Nation; New Scientist; National Geographic; Scientific American; and ABC Radio Australia were just a few of the news media outlets that carried reports of a study by Spike Lee and Norbert Schwarz on the impact of washing your hands on second-guessing decisions you've made.

Most Americans live within 25 miles of their moms, according to research supported by the Michigan Retirement Research Center at ISR. The study was featured on the Lucy Ann Lance Show on WLBY Radio,1290 AM Ann Arbor, and in La Cronica de Hoy in Chicago, among other places.

CNN ran a story on May 19 about growing wealth disparities between African American and white Americans, based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. In 1984, the Black- white wealth gap was about $20,000, but in 2007 it had grown to $95,000, according to the study.

James JacksonPsychCentral and Federal News Service carried reports on a study by James Jackson and colleagues showing that bad habits can have good and bad results. According to Jackson, when people are under chronic stress, they tend to smoke, drink, use drugs and overeat to help cope with stress. These behaviors trigger a biological cascade that helps prevent depression, but they also contribute to a host of physical problems that eventually lead to early death. The theory helps explain the long- standing epidemiological paradox that African Americans have better mental health than whites but worse physical health.

April 2010

Terri OrbuchISR researcher Terri Orbuch, also known as "The Love Doctor," was quoted in an April 14 Wall Street Journal article on how to cope with a spouse's annoying habits. She also appeared on the April 22 edition of The Today Show discussing the topic and her new book, "5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great."

The April 7 issue of The New Republic carried an article titled "Census Nonsense: Why Barack Obama isn't black," citing research by ISR Director James Jackson and David Williams, now at Harvard University. The article discussed the 44th President's choice of selecting "black, African American or Negro" on his 2010 Census form even though he is the child of a white Kansan and a black African.

Mike Traugott commented on the fund-raising advantage of incumbents in an April 16 Detroit News article on Michigan house races.

The April 15 issue of The New York Times ran a column titled "Making Your Wishes Known at the End of Life," citing research from the ISR Health & Retirement Study showing that almost a third of people over age 60 would eventually be unable to make decisions about medical treatment at the end of their lives.

The Associated Press,U.S News & World Report, and other media outlets reported on a new study of disabilities among middle-aged Americans. Vicki Freedman, Bob Schoeni, and Patti Andreski co-authored the study report, with Linda Martin of RAND.

John BoundThe April 14 edition of Inside Higher Ed reported on a study by John Bound and colleagues analyzing how long it takes college students to earn their degrees.

March 2010

On March 2, ScienceDaily.com reported on a study published in the March issue of the Psychological Bulletin showing that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood for aggressive thoughts and behavior and decreases the likelihood of empathy and helpful behavior in young people. RCGD researcher Brad Bushman is a co-author of that study.

Pam SmockPSC Director-designate Pamela Smock was quoted in March 2 articles in The New York Times, USA Today, and other media, commenting on a new study showing that couples who live together before marriage are less likely to stay married. "From the perspective of many young adults, marrying without living together first seems quite foolish,'' said Smock. "Just because some academic studies have shown that living together may increase the chance of divorce somewhat, young adults themselves don't believe that.''

SRC economist Richard Curtin was quoted March 5 in Yahoo! News, CNBC Online, moneynews.com and numerous other media outlets on results from the February Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. Sentiment of U.S. households in the top fifth of the income distribution improved in early 2010 compared with 2009, he reported, but worries over personal finances persist. "While the evidence indicates that the financial situation of upper-income households improved considerably more than the finances of lower- income households, even among those in the top fifth of the income distribution, those initial gains have not completely ended the overall financial decline," said Curtin, director of the surveys.

The Feb.17 issue of the Scientific American carried a story on a project headed by ICPSR researcher Amy Pienta to study the impact of Recovery Act stimulus funding on social science research. "We are always trying to understand how valuable research data are," Pienta said.

February 2010

Helen LevyIn the March issue of The Atlantic, SRC economist Helen Levy is cited in an article titled "Myth Diagnosis," reviewing research on the link between health insurance and health and mortality. The connection may seem obvious but in fact the article points out that studies are divided. One of the studies was a recent review of the literature conducted by Levy and David Meltzer of the University of Chicago which showed that the latest studies of this question "paint a surprisingly consistent picture: Medicare increases consumption of medical care and may modestly improve self-reported health but has no effect on mortality, at least in the short run."

The Jan. 31 edition of The New York Times cited findings from the ISR Panel Study on Income Dynamics that U.S. children are spending, on average, 50 percent less time outdoors than they did 20 years ago in an article on protecting biodiversity. As children in developed societies lose touch with the natural world, the article noted, support for protecting biological diversity can be expected to wane.

WXYZ-TV quoted PSC's Lisa Neidert in a Feb. 4 story about the importance to Michigan of the 2010 Census. Neidert also appeared in a video available online at wxyz. com. More information on U-M and the Census -- including details on a census video contest with a total of $3,000 in prizes

In a report on publicity for the release of 2009 ISR Monitoring the Future Study results, the National Institute on Drug Abuse noted that the study garnered over 10 million print and online impressions. Broadcast coverage on both networks and local stations reached an audience of more than 7 million people, according to a NIDA-sponsored report, and that coverage had a cumulative estimated publicity value of $465,808.

January 2010

Lloyd JohnstonResults of the 2009 Monitoring the Future Study of teen drug use, directed by Lloyd Johnston, appeared in a wide variety of news media starting Dec. 14, when the National Institute on Drug Abuse released the findings in Washington, DC. Among the media reporting the main findings were the Associated Press, National Public Radio, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters. Marijuana use among teens increased in 2009 after previous yearly declines, while the use of most other illicit drugs, including cocaine, declined. The report also showed that daily cigarette use was lower in 2009 than at any other time since the survey started in 1975.

Brian RowanIn the Jan 10 issue of The Washington Post, columnist Jay Matthews reported on new findings from the Study of Instructional Improvement led by Brian Rowan. Rowan and colleagues found major differences in what teachers in adjoining classrooms were doing, even in schools supposedly following reform models that dictated how everyone used every hour of the day. But according to Matthews, "the really weird thing was that what teachers did in the classroom made no difference in student performance!" Still, the study data also showed that some reform models did better than others, on average.

Pamela SmockPamela Smock was quoted in a Jan. 15 Associated Press story on new Census Burea figures showing that the number of working moms who are the sole breadwinners in their families reached an all- time high while the number of stay-at-home dads also increased. "The economic crisis is heavily affecting families," said Smock, "and what the latest data show is that gender roles are flexible and are going in the direction of egalitarian roles."

2009

December 2009

"Health Fears are Nothing to Sneeze At" was the headline in a Nov. 6 U.S. News & World Report article about research by Spike W. S. Lee and Norbert Schwarz, published in Psychological Science. The study also found that people who'd just been exposed to a sneezing actor were three times as likely to want to spend $1.3 billion on the development of a flu vaccine instead of creating jobs in "green" industries than those who hadn't been near someone sneezing.

About half of U.S. children will be on food stamps at some time during their childhood, an analysis of data from the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics found. The analysis, published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, was covered in the Nov. 18 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"NFL's moves signal a truce on concussions" was the headline of a Nov. 25 article in The New York Times about the league's new gameplan for handling, and preventing, player head injuries. The changes came in the wake of an ISR survey of the health of retired players, conducted by David Weir and James Jackson.

A Dec. 9 Psychology Today blog by Jen Kim titled "I am my mom's best friend," explores the dynamics of the mother-adult daughter relationship. "Every daughter has a unique relationship with her mom--one that can never really be replicated with anyone else... In a nutshell, I am my mom's best friend. It's strange because my mom is certainly not my best friend." Kim cites research by Kira Birditt that parents and adult children typically experience tension in their relationships, and decides to follow Birditt's advice about what kinds of coping strategies work best to defuse the tensions.

Richard Curtin, Director of the Reuters/U-M Surveys of Consumers, told Reuters and other news media that consumers are reeling from job losses and job insecurities. "In real terms we are probably not going to see an increase in retail sales over the holidays," Curtin predicted.

October 2009

The Sept. 17 edition of Medical News Today reported on how older Americans are faring in the recession, based on a presentation of data from the ISR Health & Retirement Study by HRS Director David Weir at a Washington, DC, breakfast briefing on Capitol Hill.

Richard Curtin, Director of the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, presented findings on consumer behavior at the same DC briefing, suggesting that consumer spending will not lead the economic recovery. The findings were reported in the Sept. 17 issue of the Los Angeles Times.

The Sept. 30 issue of the New York Times carried a front-page article on the study of retired National Football League players conducted by David Weir, James Jackson, and Amanda Sonnega. The study was also cited in stories by the Associated Press, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and numerous other news media.

A study by Jose Tapia Granados and Anna Diez-Roux on Life and Death in the Great Depression, showing the longevity actually increased during that period of economic stress, was covered in a wide range of media outlets, including CNN, Thomson Reuters, U.S. News & World Report, and ScienceDaily.

Data on health insurance coverage over time from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, directed by Frank Stafford, Bob Schoeni, and Kate McGonagle, was cited by U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama in a Saturday address to the nation on September 12.

ISR research was featured on The Jay Leno Show in Leno's monologue two -- count 'em, two -- nights in a row. On September 30, Leno mentioned the study of retired NFL players and on October 1, he cited the study on longevity during the Great Depression. Watch the episodes at http://www.thejaylenoshow.com
Viewer discretion advised.

September 2009

News media from Detroit's WWJ Radio to the Tehran Times cited research by Pamela Davis-Kean showing that boosting parental education is a good way to increase children’s school achievement.

Pamela Davis-Kean
Davis-Kean

Job insecurity leads to health problems in U.S. workers, according to a study by Sarah Burgard and colleagues, covered by Thomson Reuters, HHS HealthBeat, PhysOrg.com and other media around the world.

Sarah Burgard
Burgard

Philippa Clarke was the lead author of a study on long-term trends in exercise, eating habits, and other health-related activities that was covered by the Democrat and Chronicle, ScienceDaily, and MedicalNewsToday. Among her findings: young women exercise less than young men.

Philippa Clarke
Clarke

The Times of India, the Press-Telegram and OneNewsNow covered a paper by Miles Kimball and colleagues finding that the religiosity of college students is linked to their choice of college major. Majors linked to declines in religiosity were humanities and social sciences.

Miles Kimball
Kimball

May 2009

"Parent-Child Tension Never Ends" was the headline of a May 8 article in U.S. News & World Report about a study by SRC researcher Kira Birditt on the relationships of adult children and their parents. More about the study

Kira Birditt
Birditt

"Stress: Why It's Making You Sick" That's the headline in a May 2009 article in the AARP Bulletin citing the research of PSC's Sarah Burgard and colleagues. Their study showed that worrying about losing your job causes more health problems than actually losing it. "Living with uncertainty, that's extremely damaging to your health," said Burgard. More about the study

Sarah Burgard
Burgard

"Bad Jobs Can Make for Bad Moms" according to a study by PSC fellow Amy Hsin, presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America. The study was covered in Miller-McCune.com, the Ann Arbor News, and PhysOrg.com. More about the study

Amy Hsin
Hsin

The May 11 issue of Forbes carried an article titled "East Versus West" about the cross-cultural research of RCGD psychologist Richard Nisbett.

Richard Nisbett
Nisbett

May 2009 | archive

"Parent-Child Tension Never Ends" was the headline of a May 8 article in U.S. News & World Report about a study by SRC researcher Kira Birditt on the relationships of adult children and their parents. More about the study

Kira Birditt
Birditt

"Stress: Why It's Making You Sick" That's the headline in a May 2009 article in the AARP Bulletin citing the research of PSC's Sarah Burgard and colleagues. Their study showed that worrying about losing your job causes more health problems than actually losing it. "Living with uncertainty, that's extremely damaging to your health," said Burgard. More about the study

Sarah Burgard
Burgard

"Bad Jobs Can Make for Bad Moms" according to a study by PSC fellow Amy Hsin, presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America. The study was covered in Miller-McCune.com, the Ann Arbor News, and PhysOrg.com. More about the study

Amy Hsin
Hsin

The May 11 issue of Forbes carried an article titled "East Versus West" about the cross-cultural research of RCGD psychologist Richard Nisbett.

Richard Nisbett
Nisbett

April 2009

Bias didn't skew the New Hampshire polls against Hillary Rodham Clinton, concluded a report by a special committee of the American Association of Public Opinion Research headed by ISR researcher Michael Traugott. The Associated Press filed a March 30 article on the report that ran in hundreds of newspapers and blogs around the country. For more information, see the U-M news release with a link to the full report.

Michael Traugott
Traugott

Results from the March Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers appeared in hundreds of media outlets, from Thomson Reuters to CNBC, the Washington Post, Forbes, and the Christian Science Monitor. Headlines told a wide range of stories, from slight optimism to continuing gloom. "Signs of Easing in U.S. Economic Slide" and "U.S. consumers' mood improves slightly," were followed by "Consumers expect greater stock price declines" and "Americans fear home price drop accelerating."

March 2009

"Is Your Job Killing You? How Work Affects Longevity" was the title of a Feb. 21 article in U.S. News & World Report.com that spotlighted research by Sarah Burgard. Burgard's research, the article said, "has shown that job insecuity can be as bad for your longer-term health as a bout with a serious illness or even an actual job loss."

Sarah Burgard
Burgard

Richard Nisbett penned an op-ed titled "Education is All in Your Mind" published Feb. 8 in the New York Times. In the article, Nisbett emphasized that education stimulus spending should use research that shows which types of programs and approaches actually help children learn. He cited work by ISR researcher Daphna Oyserman showing that basic help with life planning skills has a major impact on the academic success of inner-city youth. Nisbett's new book, Intelligence and How to Get It, argues that environment trumps genes in determining intelligence.

Richard Nisbett
Nisbett

The online edition of Time Magazine ran an article Feb. 24 featuring research by Norbert Schwarz and Hyunjin Song showing that products with names that are hard to pronounce are perceived as more dangerous or risky than easy-to-say names for products or -- for that matter -- people. Schwarz was also quoted in a Feb. 6 New York Times story on the impact color has on mood and performance.

Norbert Schwarz
Schwarz

February 2009

The February issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, features ISR cognitive psychologist Colleen Seifert in an article titled "Chance of a Lifetime." Telling the story of how she met her future husband, the article relates how Seifert used a concept from her own research -- "predictive encoding" -- to turn a chance encounter into a happy marriage.

Colleen Seifert
Seifert

"The Real Reason People Don't Save" is the title of a Feb. 4 U.S. News & World Report article that offers insights from ISR economist Helen Levy on why most low-income people can't manage to save. Many routinely share any "extra" money with family and friends who aren't as well-off. As one person Levy interviewed remarked, "I'd be great at saving if I had any money."

Helen Levy
Levy

ISR researcher Robert Marans is quoted in a Feb. 3 Brand Week article on a new trend in urban real estate development -- branded cities. Citing projects in L.A., New Orleans, Minneapolis and Baton Rouge, Marans is conducting advance work on a possible study to gauge public attitudes toward these new, media-rich communities, where interactive, LED displays play a prominent role in defining the identity of a place.

Robert Marans
Marans

Findings from the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics showing that Americans spend much less time cleaning than they used to were cited in a Feb. 2 Wall Street Journal article titled "Is the Smell of Moroccan Bazaar Too Edgy for American Homes?" The article explores the changing smell of "clean." "It's good to see that marketing is built on a solid research foundation," said PSID director Frank Stafford about the coverage.

Frank Stafford
Stafford

Sociologist Pamela Smock was cited in a Feb. 1 New York Times article titled "2 Kids + 0 Husband = Family" about the rising number of unmarried mothers. "In 1960 unmarried mothers accounted for about 5 percent of births in the United States," the article noted. "Now they are having almost 40 percent of the country's babies. About half of these women are on their own, and the other half are living with a man at the time of the birth, according to Smock."

Pamela Smock
Smock

January 2009

The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and the Los Angeles Times were just a few of the media outlets that ran articles on the 2008 Monitoring the Future results in mid-December. President George W. Bush announced the findings at a White House press conference on Thurs- day, December 11. Much of the coverage of the findings quoted SRC social psychologist Lloyd Johnston, who has directed the study since its inception in 1975. The study found that cigarette smoking among teens dropped again in 2008, and is now at the lowest level since the mid-1990s. "The survey shows fewer teenagers try smoking cigarettes," the New York Times reported. "Most say they pre- fer to date people who don't smoke and think becoming a smoker reflects poor judgment." According to Johnston, the findings suggest that this generation will live healthier and longer lives. "The fact that teen smoking is still declining is particularly encouraging,'' he said, "because a couple of years ago it looked like the long decline in youth smoking might be coming to an end.''

Lloyd Johnston
Johnston

"Jobless? Join the club" was the headline on a December 17 USA Today article exploring ways to reduce the social isolation that often accompanies unemployment. The article cited research by PSC sociologist Sarah Burgard and UCLA colleague Jennie Brand, showing that people who lose their jobs often disconnect from their social networks, which makes it harder for them to find a new job. "The psychological contract that used to ex- ist between employers and employees has broken down, and when you feel that happen, you are less likely to give back to your com- munity," says Burgard.

Sarah Burgard
Burgard

The December 17 issue of Business Week ran a web-based feature on how to boost national morale in gloomy times. The feature cited findings from the CPS World Values Survey, directed by Ron Inglehart, showing that wealth is not the most important factor in determining national levels of happiness.

Ron Inglehart
Inglehart

2008

November/December 2008

"Getting Old But Still Feeling Young" was the headline of a December 3 New York Times article on new research by ISR's Jacqui Smith and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute. Their study found that older people feel about 13 years younger than their chronological age, on average.

Jacqui Smith
Smith

The Chicago Tribune ran two articles about an innovative new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago and ISR researchers Reynolds Farley and Mick Couper. In a Nov. 20 piece, the researchers used videos to explore how racial attitudes influence attitudes about neighborhood desirability.

RCGD Director Rowell Huesmann was quoted on CNN and in a wide range of international news media about an Iowa State study showing that teens who play violent video games are more likely to behave aggressively months later. "When you're exposed to violence day in and day out," Huesmann is quoted as saying, "it loses its emotional impact on you."

Rowell Huesmann
Huesmann

"How to Live Longer: Take Care of Sick Spouse." That was the headline of a Nov. 28 article in the Globe and Mail citing a study by Stephanie Brown, Ken Langa and colleagues. The study, based on an analysis of data from the ISR Health and Retirement Study, showed that older people who cared for an ailing spouse tended to live longer than others who provided no care.

October 2008

"QU signs deal with top US research institute" was the headline of a Sept. 16 Gulf Times article, dateline Doha, about a new partnership between Qatar University and ISR. The agreement to jointly develop a new Social and Economic Survey Research Institute at QU was praised in an op-ed article in the Oct. 3 issue of the Michigan Daily, headed "Partnership between 'U' and Qatar University a win-win."

"This mutually beneficial partnership is exactly how it should be," the Daily opined. "This isn't an effort to plant American ideals in far-away countries. Instead, this is a give and take between two cultures — exactly what makes international programs worth the time and money." CPS researchers Mark Tessler and Dave Howell are co-PIs of the project.

Science Daily, United Press International, and the Times of India were among the international news media reporting in September on research by RCGD's Ethan Kross. "People can cope with depression by analyzing upsetting events from a psychologically distanced perspective, an approach widely associated with Buddhist philosophies," the Times of India reported.

Read more about the research and listen to a podcast with Kross

Results from the first Big Ten Battleground Poll were released September 18 and reported by the Associated Press and other major media outlets, in addition to the Big Ten Network. U-M poll advisor Michael Traugott reported on Michigan results, and also participated in the release of results from the second Big Ten poll, out Oct. 23.

In early October, The Detroit Free Press and the Associated Press covered a new $57 million grant for the Michigan Alliance for the National Children's Study. U-M received $17 million of the new award, for work in several Michigan counties by U-M lead Daniel Keating and ISR researchers Michael Elliott, Beth-Ellen Pennell, Steve Heeringa and William Axinn.

May 2008

Getting married increases a woman's housework time by seven hours a week but decreases a man's by about an hour, according to 2005 data from the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The findings, from an analysis by PSID director Frank Stafford and student intern Noura Hamid, received widespread international media coverage in April.

For more information on the findings, including long-term trends in the amount of housework done by women and men of various ages, see the U-M news release.

News coverage included stories by Reuters, ABC News Good Morning America, MSNBC, and NPR MarketPlace.

One of the PSID's major funders, the National Science Foundation, videotaped an interview with Stafford and has posted a multimedia news feature titled "Chore Wars" at http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111458&org=NSF

"Losing Sleep? Your Boss, Colleagues May Be To Blame," said the headline on an April 18 FOXNews story highlighting research by Sarah Burgard. Presented at the Population Association of America meeting, Burgard's study was also covered by Science Daily, United Press International, and other national and international news organizations. Read more about the study in the U-M news release.

Consumer confidence sank to its lowest level in a quarter century, according to the April Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The findings, released on Friday, April 25, were widely reported in U.S. and international news media, including CNNMoney, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Canada's Globe and Mail. The decline was due to high fuel and food prices as well as shrinking income gains and falling home values. "The recent acceleration in the loss in confidence indicates a longer and potentially deeper recession," said Richard Curtin, the Surveys Director. "Rising uncertainty about future living standards has caused consumers to adopt more prudent spending plans and become more wary."

April 2008

A March 24 Associated Press news feature highlighted the career of Lloyd Johnston, director of the ISR Monitoring the Future Study since it began in 1974. As a 33-year-old grad student, Johnston, in collaboration with ISR research scientist Jerry Bachman, developed the idea for the study - which has received more than $120 million in funding and is widely regarded as the gold standard for information on teen substance use.

The March 16 New York Times Magazine cited research by ISR psychologist Norbert Schwarz and colleagues in an article titled "Rumor's Reasons." Schwarz found that repeating a claim, even if only to refute it, makes it more likely that the claim will be seen as true. The research helps explain why political smear tactics can be so successful, and why rebuttals are often ineffective.

Westerners focus on a central figure's expression while Japanese take everyone into account. That was the central finding of a study covered March 18 by the New York Times, conducted by former U-M student Takahiko Masuda, now at the Univ. of Alberta, and ISR faculty associate Phoebe Ellsworth. Part of Takahiko's doctoral dissertation, the work was supported by the Culture & Cognition Program.

"One-Third of Seniors Have Mental Decline," said a March 18 headline in the Washington Post, reporting the latest findings from the ISR Health & Retirement Study. The findings come from a special supplement to the HRS - the Aging, Demographics and Memory Study (ADAMS). Duke University researcher Brenda Plassman and U-M's Ken Langa collaborated on the study, which was also cited in a March 28 column in the Boston Globe titled "McCain's senior moment." The column by Ellen Goodman contemplated 71-year-old candidate John McCain's recent slip, confusing Shi'ites and Sunnis, and the characterization of this gaffe as a "senior moment" by 64-year-old commentator Brit Hume. Goodman concluded with a quote from Golda Meier: "Being 70 is not a sin. It's not a joke either."

March 2008

A study by Ken Langa, a researcher with ISR and the U-M Medical School, received major news coverage in February, including stories in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Reuters and USA Today. The study, based on data from the ISR Health and Retirement Study, found that memory loss and other cognitive impairment were becoming less common in older Americans.

SRC economist Richard Curtin was quoted in a February 17 Associated Press story on growing economic insecurities. "Over the past decades, whether inflation was much higher or lower, or incomes grew faster or more slowly, there has never been such a wide divergence in the experiences " separating richer households from poorer ones, Curtin was quoted as saying.

Research by SRC economist Matthew Shapiro and U-M colleague Joel Slemrod was cited in a Feb. 5 San Francisco Chronicle article titled "Spending Rebates Is Not Likely." The study, conducted in 2001, found that only about 22 percent of American households surveyed planned to spend most of their tax rebates. A follow-up study conducted in 2002, showed that higher-income households were more likely to report that they would spend most of any tax rebate.

In a Feb. 3 New York Times article titled "16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter," the work of CPS Director Nancy Burns was cited in support of the view that "gender consciousness" has little power to stimulate political action, and that women will not necessarily support a female candidate.

The Today Show on NBC News, MSNBC, Science Daily, and the Philadelphia Daily News ran stories in mid-February about SRC researcher Kira Birditt's study. The study found that we're likely to see our relationships with children and best friends less negatively over time, but we're more likely to see our spouses as irritating and demanding.

February 2008

RCGD's Brad Bushman appeared on ABC News 20/20 on Jan. 25, in a segment on "Anger in America." Bushman talked about his research on the link between narcissism and anger, and the segment included footage of an experiment conducted by the Aggression Research Group. For more information on the story, see the 20/20 website.

CPS political scientist Vince Hutchings commented on the Michigan presidential primary on the Jan. 15 edition of the CBS Evening News. Hutchings was also quoted in other election coverage, including a Jan. 11 article in The Guardian.

CPS political scientist Arthur Lupia was quoted in a Jan. 16 Boston Globe story about the impact of Mitt Romney's status as a native son in the Michigan primary.

CPS communications expert Mike Traugott got his fair share of election-related press coverage, as well. Stories in the Jan. 16 Detroit Free Press and Jan. 15 Agence France Press on the Michigan race quoted Traugott on the impact of voter turnout could have on Romney's chances of winning the race. Traugott was also profiled in the debut Issue of Dome Magazine, a new on-line newsmagazine covering Michigan politics and policy.

PSC demographer Ron Lesthaeghe commented on an Associated Press analysis showing that U.S. births increased in 2006 to the highest since 1961, near the end of the Baby Boom. The analysis, reported by the Jan. 17 Washington Post as well as AP outlets around the world, found that U.S. fertility rates varied by region, with American women in the Midwest, South and certain mountain states having more children than those in New England. In the mountain states, Lesthaeghe noted, religion--including Evangelical Protestantism and Momonism--may be an important factor in fertility.

January 2008

"Marrying for Love...of Money," was the headline of a Dec. 14 article in The Wall Street Journal that quoted PSC sociologist Pam Smock. Smock, who has conducted many studies on marriage, divorce and cohabitation, commented on a poll that found two-thirds of women and half of men said they were "very" or "extremely" willing to marry for money. "I'm a little shocked at the numbers," said Smock. "It's kind of against the notion of love and soul mates and the main motivations to marry in our culture." Smock noted that her own research has shown that it's more likely that a couple will marry if they have money, and if the man is economically stable.

SRC psychologist Stephanie Brown was cited in the Dec. 24 Los Angeles Times and in the Dec. 18 USA Today in articles on the benefits of giving. Brown's work has shown that people who give support to others were less likely to die over a five-year period than people who didn't help others. She speculates that helping someone you feel a connection to — a friend, neighbor or relative — may stimulate the production of oxytocin, a hormone is stimulated by touching someone we love, and that facilitates social interactions, including the bonding of mother and child.

RCGD's Randy Nesse was quoted in a Dec. 3 article in The Times about a new book maintaining that psychiatry has transformed normal sorrow — a nautral emotion that is vital to well-being — into depression that requires medication. The article noted that Nesse "once speculated that economic booms and busts were becoming more extreme because so many stressed out investors and traders were on Prozac, which blunted their sense of caution. When the gambling is heavier, Nesse argued, the bubbles are more voluminous and the busts more spectacular."

Research on senior drug coverage by ISR economists Helen Levy and David Weir, funded by the ISR Michigan Retirement Research Center, was cited in the Oct. Kiplinger Retirement Report. "More than 90 percent of seniors age 65 and older have prescription drug coverage, compared with 75 percent in 2004, the report noted.

2007

December 2007

RCGD psychologist Richard Nisbett's op-ed article, "All Brains are the Same Color," ran on Sunday, Dec. 9, in the New York Times. Nisbett, who organized this fall's Group Dynamics seminar series on intelligence, reviewed research on racial gaps in I.Q. and academic achievement and concluded that "the difference has environmental, not genetic, causes" and that "interventions at every age from infancy to college" can reduce these gaps, "sometimes by substantial amounts in surprisingly little time."

Annual findings from the SRC Monitoring the Future Study, headed by psychologist Lloyd Johnston, were released by the White House Dec. 11 and reported by major national print and broadcast media, including Associated Press and Reuters. Johnston participated in a DC press conference on the results, showing that overall, illicit drug use by American teens continued to decline in 2007, and that teen smoking was also down.

Watching violent television shows and playing violent video games are a powerful public health threat, warned RCGD director L. Rowell Huesmann, in a study released Nov. 28 that was covered by media around the world, including The Guardian, The Times of India and the Washington Post. The study reviewed 50 years of research on the impact of violent media, including work conducted by Huesmann and ISR colleague Brad Bushman. To learn more, read the U-M news release and listen to a podcast with Huesmann.

October 2007

ICPSR Director Myron Gutmann was cited in the Oct.11 issue of Nature in an article titled "Data sharing threatens privacy." Gutmann warned that a repetition of a recent AOL gaffe, making data on user search behavior available for analysis without ensuring that user identities could not be determined, could lead to a damaging public backlash against access to electronic data sets.

David Featherman, who directs the U-M Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society (CARSS), commented on former Department of Education Secretary Diane Ravitch's take on The No Child Left Behind act in an Oct. 8 New York Times Letter to the Editor. "Unless we advance the science and thus increase the sophistication and number of evidence-based tools in the hands of teachers, no new law is likely to accomplish more than we now achieve..." wrote Featherman.

Research by Norbert Schwarz on how the mind misremembers - explaining why rumors never die - was covered Sept. 4 by The Washington Post and other news media. "The research is painting a broad new understanding of how the mind works," the Post reported, and why subconscious rules of thumb sometimes bias the brain into thinking that false information is true.

Brad Bushman is scheduled to appear on ABC News 20/20 on Friday, Nov. 30, in a segment on violent video games. For more on Brad's research on this topic, see a recent issue of the ISR Update (pdf)

"Landmark Health Study Will Track Metro Kids," was the headline on an Oct. 5 Detroit Free Press article about the National Children's Study. The U-M arm of the study is headed by ISR affiliates Daniel Keating and Michael Elliott, working with ISR Survey Research Operations.

September 2007

Research by Lloyd Johnston and Monitoring the Future colleagues on childhood obesity was covered in a wide range of news media starting on September 25. Among them: USA Today, Reuters, MSNBC, and the Washington Post. For more information, read the news release.

NPR's web-based "Bryant Park Project" included an interview with Helen Levy on poverty and expansions to children's health insurance on August 25 show.

Vince Hutchings appeared September 25 on Al Jazeera News, speaking about the anniversary of the Little Rock school desegregation case and the amount of segregation that still exists in society today.

Rich Curtin and James Jackson were cited in September 25 UPI coverage of their survey of consumer attitudes toward Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, part of a larger Dept. of Transportation grant to the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Institute.

Lisa Neidert was cited as a source for a September 13 Slate Magazine article. Titled "How to Make More Babies," the article led with news of the official Day of Conception in Russia's Ulyanovsk Province, offering prizes to couples who produced a baby in nine months. Neidert provided background about the population decline taking place in Russia, and in many European and Asian nations.

Mansoor Moaddel's research on Iraqi attitudes, showing a rising sense of national identity, was cited in the September 8 issue of The Economist. Though sectarian conflict is increasing, he says, "It would be a mistake to think that this bloodlust represents widespread sentiment among Iraqis as a whole...the Iraqi public is increasingly drawn toward a vision of a democratic, non-sectarian government for the country."

August 2007

The Aug. 15 edition of USA Today cited data from the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics analyzed by Frank Stafford and Elena Gouskova showing that today's Americans in their 20s were having a harder time economically than young adults in the past. To read more about their analysis, which also shows that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, see the news release.

A series of articles on the white-collar job market in the July Chicago Tribune quoted Richard Price on the emotional impact of lay-offs and fear of layoffs among affluent, college-educated workers.

The July 15 issue of the Washington Post quoted Health and Retirement Study economist Robert Willis in an article on safeguards for aging investors. Willis noted that people need to recognize "that the person I am today, I might not be in the future."

ISR Director James Jackson was quoted in a July 15 Boston Globe article on racism that reviewed the growing field of research on how racism literally hurts the body.

The Washington Post and many other media outlets reported the findings of a study by Rucker Johnson and Bob Schoeni showing that underweight babies have a host of problems in mid-life. They earn less and age at a more rapid rate. To learn more about the study, see the news release.

"Work-Family Conflict Dogs Air Force Women" was the headline of an Aug. 19 Washington Post article about a study by Penny Pierce and Amiram Vinokur that found a link between work-family conflict and PTSD. "We were surprised to find that work-family conflict is an independent and significant predictor of PTSD, above and beyond combat exposure," said Pierce, who presented the preliminary findings of the study in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. Lisa Lewandowski also presented study findings on reenlistment intentions. Read more in the news release.

July 2007

"How Racism Hurts – Literally," was the headline in a July 15 story in The Boston Globe that reviewed the growing body of research documenting the effects racial discrimination has on physical health. "We don't know all the internal processes," ISR Director James Jackson was quoted as saying. "But we can observe an effect, and we need to find out what's going on."

Psychologist Pam Davis-Keane was quoted in the June 17 Ann Arbor News and other media about a study exploring the impact fathers have on their daughters' interest in science and math. For more information on the study, see the U-M news release: "How dads influence their daughters' interest in math."

The July 1 online edition of the Chicago Tribune cited ISR psychologist Richard Price in an article headlined "Layoff fears part of 'new normal.' The article, first in a series examining changes the U.S. market, discussed the impact of large-scale job loss among well-educated, affluent professionals.

"Underweight Babies Carry Big Burden," said the June 19 Washington Post, reporting on a study by U-C Berkeley's Rucker Johnson and ISR economist Bob Schoeni, showing that low birth weight increases the risk for a host of adult problems, including dropping out of high school, earning less and aging at a more rapid rate during midlife. To learn more about the study, see the U-M news release "Born to Lose: How Birth Weight Affects Adult Health and Success."

May 2007

"Baby Boomers Appear to Be Less Healthy Than Parents," was the front-page headline in the April 20 Washington Post. The article reported on early findings from the ISR Health and Retirement Study, suggesting that the first wave of boomers may be the first generation of Americans to enter retirement in worse health than their parents were. ISR economist David Weir, co-director of the HRS, was quoted in the article.

The March 22 issue of Scientific American.com reported on research on seasonal changes that affect mood and behavior -- "Spring Fever." The work of PSC's David Lam, showing how seasonal birthrates fluctuate, was cited in the article.

Research by Helen Levy was cited in an April 5 Los Angeles Times op ed article titled "Universal healthcare's dirty little secret." The article reported that Levy and University of Chicago colleague David Melzer reviewed academic studies, and found no link between health insurance and better health.

April 2007

SRC's Lloyd Johnston, director of the Monitoring the Future Study, contributed to the five-part NPR series "The Forgotten War" about the war on drugs. The series ran the week of April 2 on "All Things Considered."

Psychologist Jacque Eccles and colleagues at Yale and U-T Austin challenge the myth of the overscheduled child, according to a March 16 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Analyzying data from the ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics and other studies, Eccles and colleagues find evidence that taking part in organized activities is helpful, not harmful, to young people's development.

The Associated Press, The Detroit News and other media outlets reported in mid- March on the start of a new study of how deployment affects the stress levels of men and women in the U.S. Army. The study is being conducted by ISR researchers Penny Pierce and Amiram Vinokur.

March 2007

SRC's Monitoring the Future Study, directed by Lloyd Johnston, was cited in the Feb. 6 USA Today and other publications in stories about the dangers of using marijuana and rise in teen use of prescription painkillers.

The March 7 issue of ScienceDaily.com reported on new research by RCGD's Brad Bushman showing that reading violent scriptures increases aggressive behavior, especially among believers.

"Numbers Drop for the Married With Children," said the headline of a March 4 article in the Washington Post that quoted PSC's Pam Smock on the decline in marriage among poorer couples.

United Press International reported on a study by RCGD psychologist Denise Sekaquaptewa that showed how implicit stereotypes affected the math performance of college-age women.

February 2007

The Feb. 6 issue of The Wall Street Journal cited ISR surveys of Iraqi attitudes, conducted by Mansoor Moaddel and Mark Tessler, in a column suggesting that many Iraqis support the values of democracy, liberalism and secularism. Read more about the ISR study in the news release in the news section of the ISR website.

Research on the roots of animosities between Los Angeles Latinos and Blacks by Vincent Hutchings and UCLA’s Lawrence Bobo, an ISR alum, was cited in a Jan. 7 Los Angeles Times op ed piece arguing that longtime prejudices, not economic rivalry, are to blame for continuing Black-Latino tensions.

The Jan. 16 issue of The New York Times quoted two ISR research scientists in a front-page article reporting that for the first time, a majority of U.S. women were living without a spouse. The researchers: PSC demographer Bill Frey and sociologist Pamela Smock.

January 2007

On December 22, 2006, The New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and other major news media carried articles about the Monitoring the Future Study results showing teen use of illicit drugs continued to decline but prescription drug abuse has remained stable. As a result, "prescription drug abuse represents a larger part of the total problem," said MtF director Lloyd Johnston.

On January 10, NBC Today Show co-host Meredith Viera did a piece on research by School of Public Health psychologist Dan Kruger, an ISR alum, about the way people judge a man's potential as a cad or a dad by his face. The research also appeared in USA Today and other major national outlets. You can read the news release and listen to the podcast.

"This is Your Brain on Alien Killer Pimps of Nazi Doom," said the headline on the Dec. 11 Newsweek story about violent video games and their impact on adolescents. The article quoted ISR psychologist Brad Bushman, who said "In general, violent media increase aggressive thoughts and there's good reason to believe participatory violent videogames have a stronger effect than violent TV programs of films."

2006

December 2006

Boys Mow Lawns, Girls Do Dishes: Are Parents Perpetuating the Chore Wars? In a Dec. 7 column, Wall Street Journal Work & Family columnist Sue Shellenbarger cited SRC economist Frank Stafford and a new analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics—Child Development Supplement showing that boys between ages 10-18 are more likely than girls to get paid for doing housework, even though boys spend an average 30 percent less time doing chores.

CPS political scientist Ted Brader was quoted in the Nov. 1 issue of Newsday discussing how positive and negative ads influence voters. Brader spoke about the topic at the annual conference of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

More U.S. Blacks attempt suicide than previously thought, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 31, based on an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association by U-M researcher Sean Joe and colleagues. The study analyzed data from the National Survey of American Life, directed by James Jackson, which is the first to look at mental health among African Americans and Caribbean Americans.

October 2006

More than one-fifth of U.S. workers who expected to retire early are still working at age 62 and older, according to an analysis of Health and Retirement Study data by SRC researcher Philippa Clarke, reported in the August 31 edition of The Washington Post. "Retirement is now a moving target," Clarke said.

A September 8 article in The New York Times headlined "AIDS Cited in the Climb in South Africa's Death Rate" cited PSC demographer Barbara Anderson, who led an analysis showing that death rates for adults of virtually all ages and both sexes rose sharply from 1997 to 2004.

"In Politics, Aim for the Heart, Not the Head." That was the headline of a September 18 article on rational vs. emotional appeals in political persuasion that appeared in The Washington Post. CPS researcher Nick Valentino was quoted in the article, noting that campaigns are more successful at shifting people's attentions to different issues, rather than shifting their positions on any given issue.

September 2006

The ISR Health and Retirement Study was cited in the Aug. 28 Dallas Morning News in an article titled "Save less for your old age."

The Aug. 28 issue of U.S. News & World Report carried an item on Iraqi surveys conducted in 2004 and 2006 showing a striking level of distrust of U.S. intentions among major Iraqi ethnic and religious groups. The surveys, part of the World Values Study, were conducted by Ronald Inglehart, Mark Tessler and Mansoor Moaddel, an ISR researcher who is also affiliated with Eastern Michigan University.

In the Aug. 21 Washington Post, data on teen time use from the ISR Panel Study on Income Dynamics was cited in a feature titled "Too Few Overachievers: Academically Stressed Students Aren't the Country's Norm."

The June 30 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education featured an article on the happiness index developed by ISR economist Miles Kimball and colleagues.

April 2006

SRC economist Bob Schoeni's research on how much money parents give to adult children was cited in an April 20 New York Times article titled, "The Bank of Mom and Dad." The story was the most-emailed article in the Times the day after it ran.

SRC sociologist Sarah Burgard's study on the link between job insecurity and health problems was the subject of an April 4 feature in the Washington Post Health section.

PSC director Arland Thornton's work on developmental idealism was cited in an April 3 story in USA Today, titled "American Families Are Envied, Disdained."

PSC sociologist Pam Smock was quoted in an April 5 Lansing State Journal article titled "Living in Sin? Unmarried Couples Weigh the Pros and Cons of Sharing Their Hearts — and Their Households."

PSC demographer William Frey was interviewed on National Public Radio March 14 on new trends in race migration.

January 2006

In a front-page New York Times story on January 13 headlined, "Come October, Baby Will Make 300 Million or So," ISR demographer William Frey predicted who the 300 millionth American will be: "...a Mexican Latino in Los Angeles County, with parents who speak Spanish at home and with siblings who are bilingual," says Frey. "This is a far cry from the 200 millionth person who was born in the late 60s, probably a white son to middle-class suburbanites in Los Angeles or New York City."

The January 14 issue of The Economist cited ISR economist Matthew Shapiro's study on the impact of the 2003 tax cut.

ISR political scientist Mark Tessler was quoted in a Feb. 5 San Francisco Chronicle article on the rise of political Islam. "It's really very simplistic to think that free and fair elections is all you need to have to have democracy, and it's also simplistic to think that people vote for Islamist parties because they're fanatic, they're anti-American," said Tessler.

Teen smoking is a live time bomb in America, according to a headline in the Jan. 19 issue of the Capital Outlook. The article quoted ISR researcher Lloyd Johnston, citing data from the 2005 Monitoring the Future Study showing that the decline in teen smoking is starting to slow down.

Research suggesting why men report more lifetime sexual partners than women by visiting psychologist Norman Brown was featured in the Feb. 17 Washington Post.