Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Nebraska Insights 2026, Josie Gatti Schafer, Morgan Vogel, Tara Grell, Michael Lee, Mahmuda Akhter Nishu, Meagan E. Paez, Ignacio Ruelas Avila

Publications

Nebraska Insights is a collaboration between the Nebraska Chamber Foundation and the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research. The series provides a curated set of indicators that benchmark Nebraska’s demographics, economy, and quality of life against all U.S. states. Each webinar explores selected indicators from the guide and offers guidance on how Nebraska stakeholders can effectively interpret and apply the data.

All Six New England States Gain Population, But Demographic Basis Of Gain Varies, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, author Kenneth Johnson reports that New England’s population grew by 310,000 between the 2020 Census in April 2020 and July 2025 and now stands at 15,432,000, according to new Census Bureau estimates. International immigration accounted for the entire population gain, offsetting an excess of deaths over births and an outflow of domestic migrants to other U.S. destinations from New England.

All six New England states have gained population since 2020, but the source of growth varied. Maine and New Hampshire had the largest population gains in the region. Most of their gains were due to an influx …

Where Do Latinos Live In The New York City Metropolitan Area? Changing Settlement Patterns, 2000 - 2024, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This report shows that between 2000 and 2024, the Latino population of the New York metropolitan area increased by 48% from 3,592,542 to 5,316,472 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Along with population expansion, there was a decisive change in settlement patterns among all Latinos, which, in fact, began before 2000. This was the decline of New York City as the major area of the Latino population concentration, although there were differentiations by nationality.

In 2000, 60% of all Latinos in the region lived in the City. By 2024, this had declined to 46%. And while the City’s Latino population …

Linking Women’S Empowerment And Community Contexts To Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence From Ten West African Countries, Winfred A. Avogo

Faculty Publications – Sociology and Anthropology

Abstract Purpose Intimate partner violence (IPV) is experienced by over one-third of women in sub-Saharan Africa, yet evidence on the associations between women’s empowerment, community contexts, and IPV risk remains limited and inconsistent. This study examines the association between individual empowerment and community socioeconomic conditions and different forms of IPV across West Africa, using the Survey-based Women’s Empowerment Index. Method Demographic and Health Survey data (2018–2022) from ten West African countries were pooled, yielding a sample of 38,434 ever-married or cohabiting women who completed the domestic violence module. Multilevel binary logistic regression models estimated associations between empowerment dimensions, community characteristics, …

Dorchester Food Co-Op: Member Survey: Examining Food Insecurity And Grocery Shopping Frequency, Amrith Fernandes Prabhu, Weichun Yan, Beimnet Kebede, Hina Khurshid, Susan R. Crandall

Center for Social Policy Publications

This report presents selected highlights of the membership survey findings for the Dorchester Food Cooperative’s (the Co-op) first year. The Co-op is a community-owned grocery store that aims to increase access to healthy food, provide opportunities for employment, and reinvest in the local economy. To assess progress towards increasing food access during the Co-op’s first year of operation, the member survey examined access to high quality and nutritious food and member perceptions of their shopping experience.

Sociocultural Outsidership In Entrepreneurship: Rethinking The Double-Edged Role In Marginalisation, Robert J. Pidduck, Susana C. Santos, Eric W. Liguori, Reginald Tucker, Alexander Newman

Management Faculty Publications

This editorial introduces the special issue on marginalisation and entrepreneurship. While entrepreneurship research has long examined the impact of economic deprivation and structural barriers, far less attention has been given to sociocultural elements of outsidership – such as status incongruence, class-based identity conflict or cultural misalignment, among other related facets. We bring these dynamics to the fore, offering a conceptually rich yet ideologically neutral lens through which to understand how outsider dynamics can shape entrepreneurial cognition, legitimacy and venture development. Further, by synthesising emerging work across fragmented literatures, we propose a research agenda that explores sociocultural outsidership not only as …

Cohabitation And Child Educational Outcomes: An Examination Of Family Stability And Transition In Australia, Shana Pribesh, Emily E. Pulsipher, Mikaela J. Dufur, Jonathan A. Jarvis, Ashley Weisman, Yuanyuan Yue

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Cohabitation has become an increasingly common context for childrearing, yet children living with cohabiting parents often exhibit poorer academic outcomes than peers with married parents. This study examines whether these disparities stem from cohabitation itself, subsequent family transitions, or underlying mechanisms related to resources, stress, or selectivity. Using data from the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), we follow 920 children born to cohabiting parents and track family structure changes alongside teacher-rated literacy and mathematics performance from ages 6 to 11 years. Generalized estimating equation models show that, although children whose parents transitioned to single-parent or …

Examining The Results Of Revolutions In The Third World: A Case Study Of The Iranian, Libyan, And Nicaraguan Revolutions, Noah A. Mohammedelamien

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the post-revolutionary trajectories of Libya, Iran, and Nicaragua to explain why some Third World revolutionary projects preserve and use elements of their founding ideology while others fragment, personalize, or diffuse over time. Rather than focusing on the causes of revolution alone, it analyzes the durability of religious-socialist ideological continuity after revolutionary upheaval. Using a (MDSD) comparative historical and institutional approach grounded in primary and secondary sources, the study evaluates five key dimensions across the cases: religious-socialist ideological fusion, religious elite loyalty, popular religious mobilization, institutional embedding of ideology, and external pressure. The findings suggest ideological continuity is …

Reviving Southern Divides: Multilevel Explorations Of Gentrification’S Role In School Resegregation In Tallahassee, Florida From 1999 – 2015, Ola U. Kalu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation examines whether neighborhood gentrification in Tallahassee reshaped Title I elementary schools by improving academic outcomes, changing who enrolled, or both, from 1999 to 2015. Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model as a conceptual scaffold, the study situates schools within their neighborhood and district contexts across three nested analytical levels. A two-wave panel design using 2010 and 2015 school-year observations is linked to a 2000 Census baseline to connect school data with spatially weighted neighborhood change indicators. Mixed-effects multilevel models and fixed-effects robustness checks estimate the associations between neighborhood change indicators and two continuous dependent variables: standardized ELA achievement and …

“Black Students Matter”: A Phenomenological Study Of Black Student Experiences At A Predominately White Institution In Appalachia During The Dual Pandemic Of Covid-19 And Systemic Anti-Black Racism, Toni Owens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As the spread of COVID-19 escalated into a global pandemic in 2020, simultaneously, the nationwide media in the United States (U.S.) highlighted coverage of the country’s ongoing incidents of longstanding systemic anti-Black racism in America, another pandemic. In the Summer of 2020, a collective of Black students at West Virginia University (WVU) signed and publicly submitted a petition to the university’s leadership with a list of demands to address their needs as they were further exacerbated by the dual pandemic. This study is guided by the question, “What are the lived experiences of Black Students at West Virginia University during …

A Scoping Review To Conceptualize Social Privilege For Studying Patients' Health Outcomes And Health Disparities, Elizabeth A. Brown, Priyanka Patel, Esther May B. Sarino, Vladimir Markovic, Carles Muntaner

Health Behavior, Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Background

The continued reliance on single-category self-reported demographic data (e.g., race/ethnicity) reflects conceptual limitations that hinder the study and understanding of health outcomes research. There is a pressing need for more precise measures of social privilege that conceptualize privilege and oppression while enabling the examination of their effects on health outcomes in the United States (US) healthcare system.

Objective

The purpose of this scoping review was to review the literature, determine how researchers have measured aspects of privilege and oppression, and develop a conceptual framework to study patients' social privilege in the US healthcare system and public health research.

Methods …

Determinants Of Patient Satisfaction In An Academic Primary Care Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study Of The Postpandemic Era, Alvin Maliakal, Rajita Kanapareddy, Zooha Altaf, Janani Anbazhagan, Kristin Olson, Cynthia Avila, Rehan Qayyum

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

Patient satisfaction, a key indicator of healthcare quality, is associated with improved adherence, continuity, and outcomes. However, limited evidence describes determinants of patient satisfaction in contemporary primary care settings reflecting the postpandemic era, when care delivery models and patient expectations have evolved substantially.

Objective

To evaluate the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with patient satisfaction in an academic primary care setting following the postpandemic era.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adult patients (≥18 years) attending a primary care clinic. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Visit-Specific Satisfaction Questionnaire (VSQ-9) and measures of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. …

The Cost Of Getting To “No”: Cultural Evolution Of Community Psychology In Two Indiana Communities, Catherine Cullen, Megan Peek

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Latino Economic Inequality In New York City: Income And Snap Recipiency, 2013–2023, Oswaldo A. Mena Aguilar

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This Latino Data Project Report analyzes trends in the economic well-being of Latino households in New York City between 2013 and 2023, focusing on household income and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The findings reveal a paradoxical pattern: although median Latino household income increased over the decade, economic inequality within the Latino community widened substantially. Income gains were unevenly distributed, with higher-income households pulling further ahead while the lowest-income households experienced stagnation or decline. Over the same period, Latino households fell further behind all other racial and ethnic groups in the city. Additionally, Latinos consistently exhibited the …

South Dakota Newcomers Survey Report, Weiwei Zhang, Kara Harders

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Well-being Project Reports

Project Overview:
 While more populous states typically attract larger numerical influxes from other states and abroad, South Dakota has nevertheless experienced growth in immigrants, both from other states and internationally. In 2024, South Dakota State University Extension launched a state-wide Newcomer Survey to gain a better understanding of the newcomer population. Following prior work in Minnesota and Montana, the South Dakota Newcomers Survey was developed to collect data about the motivations that drive people to move to South Dakota, what they enjoy once moved, what they want more or less of, and ultimately what makes them want to, or not …

Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

Human Capital, Immigration, And Growth: A State-Level Dynamic Panel Study, William R. Cooper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This study examines whether who immigrates, rather than how many, matters for state economic growth in the United States. It integrates a policy-relevant proxy for skill (H-1B approvals) into an augmented Solow framework that separates immigration's quantity channel from its human capital channel and estimates dynamic effects in a balanced quarterly panel of 50 states (2010 to 2023 ). The empirical strategy estimates a two-step difference GMM Arellano-Bond model that reinforces identification using a double/debiased machine learning (DML) variant that orthogonalizes high-dimensional nuisance components via cross-fitting. This design targets the distinct roles of immigrant headcount versus skill in per capita …

Intersectional Life Course Inequalities In Cardiovascular Health In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Winfred A. Avogo

Faculty Publications – Sociology and Anthropology

Background Health inequalities research typically employs single measurement modalities, which limit our understanding of how historical structural violence affects different dimensions of health experience across intersectional social positions over the life course. Methods Using longitudinal data from South Africa’s National Income Dynamics Study (2008–2017), we employed dual measurement approaches and intersectional life course analysis to examine cardiovascular health trajectories among 36,814 individuals (92,702 person-years of observation). Random-effects logistic regression modeled measured hypertension, while zero-inflated Poisson regression examined self-reported CVD comorbidity across birth cohorts defined by differential apartheid exposure, testing race × gender interactions explicitly. Results Pronounced birth cohort gradients emerged …

Synthetic Data Generation Of Health And Demographic Surveillance Systems Data: A Case Study In A Low-And Middle-Income Country, Dorcas Mwigereri, Nigel Kamotho, Akbar Waljee, Ryan Rego, Eileen Weinheimer-Haus, Farhana Alarakhiya, Anthony Ngugi, Nicholson Price, Ji Zhu, Stephen Wong

Population Health, East Africa

Objective To evaluate effectiveness of open-source generative models in producing high-quality tabular synthetic data using a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) dataset from rural Kenya, as a proof of concept in a low- and middle-income (LMIC) setting.

Materials and Methods Three open-source models (CTGAN, TableGAN, and CopulaGAN) were used to generate synthetic data from the Kaloleni/Rabai HDSS dataset. To assess the quality of the synthetic datasets generated by each model, we performed fidelity, utility, and privacy tests.

Results CTGAN outperformed the other models, producing synthetic data that closely mirrored the statistical properties of the real dataset while preserving privacy. …

Validation Of Cognitive And Psychosocial Tools In Kenya: Findings From The Loshak Feasibility Pilot, Sneha Mani, Roselyter Riang’A, Niranjani Nagarajan, Anthony Ngugi, Eunice Muthoni, Muthoni Gichu, Patrick Nzivo Mwangala, Edward Miguel, Michael Walker, Kenneth Langa

Population Health, East Africa

Background and objectives Adapting cognitive tests to culturally diverse and low-resource settings is essential for expanding knowledge of cognitive health in older adults beyond high-income countries. However, contextual differences in novel settings can affect reliability and validity. There is limited evidence on the feasibility of implementing culturally adapted cognitive assessments in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region projected to have over 158 million adults aged 60 and older by 2050. The Longitudinal Study of Health and Ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK) is designed to address this measurement gap by evaluating cognitive tests in this context.

Research design and methods We analyzed data from …

Casar Public Lecture: The Fierce Battle For The 2024 Us Presidency: Race, Gender, And The Power Of Identity Politics, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

In light of the upcoming 2024 US Elections, we hosted this lecture on SUNDAY OCTOBER 27TH - 1-2 pm titled: "The Fierce Battle for the 2024 US Presidency: Race, Gender, and the Power of Identity Politics." Speakers: CASAR guest speaker Dr. Sherri McFarland - moderated by CASAR Assistant to Director and Adjunct Faculty Yasmeen El-Ghazaly. Dr. Sherri Lynn McFarland's academic and professional careers demonstrate her passionate desire to contribute to the economic, social, and political progress of African and Middle Eastern North African (MENA) countries and their diasporic communities. Her keen interest in the people of these regions led her …

Adult Adhd Is Linked To Higher Illicit Drug Use And Prescription Drug Misuse, Andrew S. London, Kevin M. Antshel, Joshua Grove, Iliya Gutin, Shannon M. Monnat

Population Health Research Brief Series

Adolescents and young adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely than their peers without ADHD to use illicit drugs and misuse prescription drugs. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the National Wellbeing Survey (NWS) to describe differences in lifetime and past-year use of 7 illicit drugs (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and hallucinogens) and misuse of 4 categories of prescription medications (opioids, tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants) between U.S. adults ages 18-64 with and without self-reported healthcare provider-diagnosed ADHD in 2023. The authors find that adults with ADHD are 1.6 to 3.3 times …

Life Course And Cohort Patterns In Screen Time Among School-Aged Children In The United States, Ashley W. Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Study design

Results

Probabilistic Intervals Around Population Forecasts: A New Approach With A Subnational Example Using Washington State Counties, David A. Swanson, Jeff Tayman

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Population forecasts produced by governments at all levels are used in the public sector, the private sector, and by researchers. They have been primarily produced using deterministic methods. This paper shows how a method for producing measures of uncertainty can be applied to existing subnational population forecasts while meeting several important criteria, including the concept of utility. The paper includes an assessment of the efficacy of the method by: (1) examining the change in uncertainty intervals it produces by population size and population growth rate; and (2) comparing the width and temporal change of the uncertainty intervals it produces to …

Better Together: Rural Community Collaboration In North Carolina's Cape Fear Region, Luke Santore, Lillie Greiman, Rayna Sage

Independent Living and Community Participation

The disAbility Resource Center of North Carolina (dRC) has served the Cape Fear region of NC since 2008. The dRC holds to the philosophy that every individual has the right to maximize their abilities, live as independently as possible, and participate fully in their community. In rural NC, the delivery of formal support requires informal trust across people, places, and organizations. In this sense, dRC is a trust broker, facilitating relationships between informal rural support networks and the network of public and nonprofit service providers in the area. dRC does this through being embedded in rural places, earning trust person …

Roots Of Justice: A History Of Race And Racism In Nebraska, Kevin Abourezk, M. Dewayne Mays, Paul Olson, Gabriel Bruguier, Preston Love Jr., Adam Fletcher Sasse, Heather Fryer, J.S. Onésimo (Ness) Sándoval, Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Emira Ibrahimpašić, Julia Reilly

Zea E-Books Collection

There is much to understand about the history of Nebraska and how the past shapes the present. This book attempts to bring into clearer focus the triumphs and trials of five broad groups whose lives have often been overlooked when the state’s history is told. The authors know some of this history of racism firsthand: Most of them have lived as people of color in Nebraska. They’ve experienced “the good, the bad and the ugly” that makes up our state story. We encourage educators, scholars and family historians to continue to dig, to document and to tell these stories. And …

Validation Of The Jefferson Health-Related Social Needs Screener, Sara Beachy, Kristin L. Rising, Richard W. Hass, Terry Hyslop, Isabella Muti, Mackenzie Kemp, Rhea E. Powell, Cara Martino, Baligh R. Yehia, Joseph G. Cacchione, Patricia C. Henwood

Jefferson Hospital Staff Papers and Presentations

INTRODUCTION: Screening for health-related social needs (HRSN) is a growing national health priority. While multiple HRSN screening tools currently exist, none to our knowledge have been evaluated using robust statistical analyses. The goal of this work is to provide results from a validation study of the Jefferson HRSN screener conducted across inpatient and outpatient settings.

METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional psychometric study included HRSN assessments conducted across inpatient and outpatient settings with adult patients from March 2023 to May 2024. The study was conducted across a 17-hospital academic health system serving a diverse community in a 9-county area crossing two states …

Nasis Reference List, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

This document contains citations of articles and presentations that have used NASIS data.

Pentingkah Pekerjaan Ibu Dalam Literasi Anak Di Indonesia?, Dien Amalina Nur Asrofi, Muhammad Salahudin Al Ayyubi

Jurnal Ekonomi Kependudukan dan Keluarga

This study aims to analyze the impact of maternal employment status and job type on children's literacy skills in Indonesia, using data from the 2023 National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) and a binary logistic regression approach. The results show that working mothers, particularly those in the formal sector, are positively and significantly correlated with children's literacy, especially in non-poor households. These findings highlight the important role of maternal employment contribution in strengthening educational investment within families. In contrast, among poor households, formal employment of mothers does not significantly influence children's literacy, indicating that economic constraints remain a major barrier. In addition, …

Demographic And Economic Implications Of Alternative Us Immigration Policies, Guizhen Ma, Erin Trouth Hofmann, Ethan Sharygin

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Due to the United States’ decades-long stalemate in federal immigration policy-making, major institutional forecasts of the U.S. population have not included assumptions about changes in immigration policy. However, the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how much policy shifts can affect immigration flows, with substantial implications for the country’s demographic future. We created national-level population and economic projections through 2060 using nine different immigration policy scenarios, reflecting differences in both the scale of immigration allowed and the mix of immigrant visas issued (family reunification versus economic and labor visas). The projections highlight the dramatically …