QSS one-quarter research projects, Spring 2023

On Wednesday, May 31, students majoring and minoring in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) presented posters from their independent research projects carried out in Spring 2023.   The spring quarter research project course was taught by Senior Lecture Robert Cooper, who supervised a total of 14 poster projects.

As reported by Professor Cooper, "At the beginning of the quarter, students have the opportunity to develop their own research question. Students are encouraged to research whatever topic motivates them, assuming data are available. Students have weekly checkpoints, but much of their work is self-directed. The most challenging part of the project is deciding how to best answer the question.

After many meetings, we make decisions about the best path forward. In meetings, and the back and forth is usually collaborative, because the student usually knows a great deal about their topic.  I  provide knowledge about the class of methods most appropriately used to answer the question." 

This spring, topics ranged from the gendered history of psychiatric institutionalization to the application of the First Letter Law to new languages, from the educational mobility of immigrant youth to the ideological cohesion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Students presented their posters in two waves, giving each a chance to engage the work of others.

Student names and their topics are as follows:

Marco Allen: "An Emerging Eurasian Bloc? Analyzing the Political Cohesion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Using Ideal Point Estimations."

Saunak Badam: "Analyzing Application of First Letter Law with Various Scripts and Languages."

Jack Bell: "The Effects of Game Importance on Player Behavior in the NBA."

Sally Gai: "The Effect of Texas's Senate Bill 4 ("Show Me Your Papers" Bill) on Immigrant-Native Labor Market Gaps."

Sophie Halk: "Educational Mobility of Immigrant Youth in the United States: Investigating Three Generations of Educational Attainment by Origin Country and Youth
Immigrant Generational Status."

Richard Gai: "Marriage and Money: Did Obergefell improve the welfare of gay men?"

Jack Lauer: "Predicting Student Financial Outcomes: Public v. Private Universities."

Sharanya Majumder: "Examining the Effects of Receiving a Twitter Community Note on Sentiment."

Tanzil Mohamed: "Exploring the relationship between education and health: Approaching Nutrition Through the Educational Lens."

Nhi Nguyen: "Gender Disparities in Wait Times for Substance Abuse Treatment."

Sofia Ratkevich: "Investigating New York's Secondary Art Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An analysis of the relationship between and impacts of the presentation of fine art auctions and associated lot sales at Sotheby's and Christie's New York."

Mia Russo: "The Gendered History of Psychiatric Institutionalization in the U.S. A Case Study of St. Elizabeths Hospital, 1885-1965."

Jessica Wang: "Exploring the Link between Health Literacy and Community Health Centers: Implications for Health Accessibility."

Amy Zaretksy: "The Mental Health Benefits of Arts Engagement."