Department of Sociology

Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology, explains the opportunities available to seniors looking to date.

Mark Igra, a graduate student in sociology, co-authored a new study on GoFundMe requests for help with medical bills.

"When Jeanne Calment of France died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days, she set a record for oldest human. That record still stands. As statisticians who study demography, we expect that record will be broken by 2100," write the UW's Michael Pearce, a doctoral student in statistics, and Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics and of sociology.

Experts say so-called breakthrough cases remain rare, and deaths among vaccinated people are "effectively zero." Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics and of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

As many as 60% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have gone unreported, and the coronavirus has infected nearly 1 in 5 Americans, according to a new model out of the University of Washington. The UW's Nicholas Irons, a doctoral student in statistics, and Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics and of sociology, are quoted.

The number of COVID-19 cases across the U.S. may have been undercounted by as much as 60%, researchers at the UW have found. Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics and of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

"A GoFundMe campaign is a poor — and unfair — substitute for functional social programs. The crowdfunding business, to which hundreds of thousands of people turned for help with rent and other basic needs during the pandemic, may well be a platform for 'inspiring acts of kindness,' but every donation also dictates who is being left behind," write Nora Kenworthy, associate professor of nursing and health studies at UW Bothell, and Mark Igra, a graduate student in sociology at the UW.

Michael Pearce, a doctoral student in statistics at the UW, and Adrian Raftery, PhD, a professor of sociology, discuss how long humans coild live.

University of Washington Provost Mark A. Richards today announced Dianne Harris will become dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, beginning Sept. 1.

Seattle-based health data company Truveta today announced $95 million in fresh funding and the addition of three new participating health care systems, bringing its total to 17. Tyler McCormick, associate professor of statistics and of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

"As researchers of policing and homelessness, we have seen an unmistakable rise in homeless sweeps and encampment crackdowns since the late 1990s. This response to visible poverty results from a collision of forces, both in Canada and the United States: the decline of affordable housing and mental-health services, and local governments’ desires to revitalize business districts, boost tourism and attract high-income residents," write Katherine Beckett, professor of sociology and of law, societies and justice at the UW, and Forrest Stuart of Stanford University.

A new sociology course explores self-tracking technology that captures our daily routines.

Most Americans who turned to the internet for financial help during the pandemic failed to raise much. Of the more than 175,000 GoFundMe campaigns that were started in the first half of 2020 and that cited COVID-19, 43% received no donations at all and 90% did not reach their stated goal. Nearly a quarter of all funds raised through the platform went to the top 1% of campaigns. Mark Igra, a graduate student in sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Michael Pearce, a UW doctoral student in statistics, and Adrian Raftery, a professor of sociology, discuss the results of their new study.

Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis and the coalition behind him believes he’s found the right formula to take on the city’s homeless crisis. That formula is the JustCare program, a collaboration between the city and a coalition of businesses, service providers and outreach teams that work together to get the unsheltered into housing while also keeping public spaces clear without the need to involve police. Katherine Beckett, professor of sociology at the UW, is referenced.