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Philip N Cohen

@philipncohen.com

10K followers 710 following 7K posts

Sociologist and demographer, University of Maryland; director of SocArXiv. New book out! Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists https://cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen-scholar/9780231555418 philipncohen.com .. more

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Philip N. Cohen is an American sociologist. He is a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and director of SocArXiv, an open archive of the social sciences. .. more

Political science 34%

Sociology 29%

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · Nov 14

Hello new followers! I waste a lot of time on here, but when I'm not doing that I sometimes write books. My new one is called Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists (out in January, orderable now), and it has all you need to prevent ... oh no
cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen...

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 29m

He seems qualified to discuss the compact: "Many of the ideas included in the proposal — and, in some instances, their exact wording — came from a document circulated last winter at the behest of Marc Rowan"

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1h

It makes sense that people who think the only reason to learn something is to get a job and all politics is a two-party electoral system (so, a lot of Americans) would have no idea what actual viewpoint diversity is or how much it exists on real campuses

A pie chart with a big slice labeled "actual viewpoint diversity" and a tiny slice labeled "people who vote for republicans"

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1h

It's hard to be funny if the rules require explaining your jokes.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1h

Say what you want about the old days on twitter, but there was more humor

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 10h

I did not see that coming

THE NOBEL PRIZE
Nobel Peace Prize 2025
Antifa
For courage in the face of rising authoritarianism.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 10h

Anyone who would believe it deserves to be as happy, or mad, as they wish to be

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 10h

But tylenol is replacing wine-soaked cloth?

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 10h

I did not see that coming

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 12h

Since it's not being compared to anything, and it's not a well-known measure (the inflation or unemployment), there's no reason to be so precise. The story would be the same if it was 16% or 18%

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 12h

Note: I can't accept, "nearly 17%." You can only use nearly, or almost, or more than, around significant numbers. E.g., you can say, "nearly 25%" But if it's really nearly 17%, just round it to 17%. (But this better not be 16.49% so it could almost round to 17%; the link doesn't go to the report).

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 13h

The number of New York City households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17% over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

Who Can Afford Three Kids in New York City?

The number of city households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17 percent over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

nyti.ms

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 13h

"We expected it would have the integrity of the president of the United States."

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 13h

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 13h

The number of New York City households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17% over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

Who Can Afford Three Kids in New York City?

The number of city households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17 percent over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Philip N. Cohen, Richard M. Carpiano , and 1 more Hugo Mercier, Philip N. Cohen, Richard M. Carpiano, Southern Africa

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 14h

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 15h

It would be less idiotic to suggest it was caused by circumcision itself, which is at least a nasty experience (take it from me, mine was before they gave Tylenol to newborns)

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 15h

I'm not that kind of doctor but the idea that a single dose of Tylenol delivered immediately after birth "causes" autism is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 20h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 18h

Anyways, I forgot I wrote about her when she died in 2012, quoting myself praising her in 2019, and remembering taking her Gender, Work, and Family seminar. What a life. familyinequality.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/h...

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 18h

She definitely thought mass sterilization reflected the preference among Puerto Rican women, and that mattered to her, but the evidence was mostly its prevalence. She mentioned a survey showing 69% of women were happier after sterilization - and thought that was great - but I think that's not great?

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 18h

I liked Harriet in the 1990s, and she taught me a lot. Also a good mentor to women. But as a Kingsley Davis student in 1973 she did show a tendency to neglect women's point of view (see attached)....

Having previously noted the technical advantages of male sterilization (Chapter II), its preference relative to female sterilization on the part of the government can be readily understood.
Not only is a vasectomy a less complicated operation than a tubal sterilization, but it can be performed more efficiently and quickly for large numbers of men by establishing camps and mobile mits for this purpose. Tubal sterilization on the other hand, generally requires hospitalization and is much more demanding of medical facilities.

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Scott L. Greer, Philip N. Cohen , and 11 more Joe R. Feagin, Scott L. Greer, Philip N. Cohen, Eric Goldman, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Jacob T. Levy, Samantha Brennan, James Goodwin, David Bartram, Jens Siegert, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 20h

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 21h

Two points:
1) for all the talk of restoring merit, in many cases we are seeing highly qualified people replaced by less qualified White people.
2) Trump and allies have made it harder and harder to explain to students why this is happening.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 21h

In Harriet Presser's study of 1973 study of women's sterilization in Puerto Rico, they asked women for one reason they were sterilized (health 58%, economic 20%, convenience 10%, not stated 12%). I'm staring at this sentence about subjective versus objective reasons:

The question "What was the reason for becoming sterilized?" was the only attitudinal question included in the fertility section of the 1965 Master Samply Survey. The question was open-ended in form and asked for a single reason. Since more than one reason may have been relevant, the validity of the coded responses may be questioned. Because this is our only source of information on the reason for sterilization and we would like to explore the relationship between this variable and education, we shall analyze the responses to this question assuming that the reason indicated is the prime, if not sole reason for undergoing the operation. It should be emphasized, how-ever, that these are subjective reasons given by the women and may be quite different from the objective reasons of physicians for approving the operation.

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 21h

Any university that agrees to this outrageous “compact” is a full participant in Trump’s assault on democracy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 23h

Trump apparently asking for "more rigorous codes for student conduct." wtf