Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
@stephenvaisey.com
Professor at Duke University. Cultural evolution, political attitudes, social change, nerdy stuff in R. YNWA. https://vaiseys.github.io/
Pinned
Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
@stephenvaisey.com
· Dec 2
4/7/2023 How Common Is Opinion Change?
YouTube video by Purdue Video Production
www.youtube.com
Here's a recording of a talk I gave on cohort effects and cultural change in 2023.
It was my pinned post from the old site and it's a good way for those who are interested to see what I'm working on (although my beard is much more under control these days).
It was my pinned post from the old site and it's a good way for those who are interested to see what I'm working on (although my beard is much more under control these days).
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
recently @stephenvaisey.com mentioned a nice experiment from their Measuring Morality study, which reminded me of something similar they did in the NSYR: they had people play a Dictator Game while varying the amount of a "raffle prize."
apparently no one analyzed it, so here's that buried finding:
apparently no one analyzed it, so here's that buried finding:
January 27, 2026 at 12:46 AM
recently @stephenvaisey.com mentioned a nice experiment from their Measuring Morality study, which reminded me of something similar they did in the NSYR: they had people play a Dictator Game while varying the amount of a "raffle prize."
apparently no one analyzed it, so here's that buried finding:
apparently no one analyzed it, so here's that buried finding:
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Please share - multiple summer 2026 in-person undergrad internship opportunities at @pewresearch.org!
- religion
- digital
- social trends
- data journalism
- global
- news
- internet
- AI
- admin
- race
- science
- methods
- politics
Apply soon!
pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...
- religion
- digital
- social trends
- data journalism
- global
- news
- internet
- AI
- admin
- race
- science
- methods
- politics
Apply soon!
pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...
January 20, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Please share - multiple summer 2026 in-person undergrad internship opportunities at @pewresearch.org!
- religion
- digital
- social trends
- data journalism
- global
- news
- internet
- AI
- admin
- race
- science
- methods
- politics
Apply soon!
pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...
- religion
- digital
- social trends
- data journalism
- global
- news
- internet
- AI
- admin
- race
- science
- methods
- politics
Apply soon!
pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
✨ We’re excited to announce the Spring 2026 IAS Seminar Series, featuring a stellar lineup of speakers and thought-provoking talks. Open to all! #AcademicSky
January 19, 2026 at 10:42 AM
✨ We’re excited to announce the Spring 2026 IAS Seminar Series, featuring a stellar lineup of speakers and thought-provoking talks. Open to all! #AcademicSky
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Join “Multilevel & Mixed Models w/ #Stata & ChatGPT” w/ @stephenvaisey.com, Feb. 18-20 for an intensive intro to multilevel models. Learn the (real) difference between fixed & random effects, how to combine both in a single model, & how #ChatGPT can help design, estimate, and interpret your models.
Multilevel and Mixed Models w/ Stata & ChatGPT | Online Seminar | Statistical Horizons
Analyze hierarchical data in Stata with Stephen Vaisey, Ph.D. Use multilevel and mixed models to model random effects and uncover patterns across levels.
statisticalhorizons.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Join “Multilevel & Mixed Models w/ #Stata & ChatGPT” w/ @stephenvaisey.com, Feb. 18-20 for an intensive intro to multilevel models. Learn the (real) difference between fixed & random effects, how to combine both in a single model, & how #ChatGPT can help design, estimate, and interpret your models.
I don't know about an AI bubble in the stock market but there's definitely an AI bubble in academia.
January 14, 2026 at 11:44 PM
I don't know about an AI bubble in the stock market but there's definitely an AI bubble in academia.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3
December 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I got wonderful news: I was granted a position of Max Planck independent group leader at the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics ⬇️ (@ae.mpg.de) in Frankfurt, which I'll join in early 2026. It's a huge honor: being trusted with academic freedom offered by MPG. My group will study the evolution of arts. 1/3
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Breaking: Francesca Gino to receive @FIFAWorldCup prize in economics
December 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Breaking: Francesca Gino to receive @FIFAWorldCup prize in economics
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
This talk by @simine.com about what other fields can learn from the crisis in psychology is excellent. I so wish sociology was listening. If 10% of sociologists knew 50% of what she says then research in sociology would be 100% better.
In case you have missed Simine Vazire's excellent webinar yesterday, here is the link to watch it online: youtu.be/_vb1CNwC3CM Thanks again @simine.com for staying up so late and thanks to the audience for the great questions!
PCI Webinar series #13 - Simine Vazire - Recognizing and responding to a replication crisis
youtu.be
December 2, 2025 at 6:44 PM
This talk by @simine.com about what other fields can learn from the crisis in psychology is excellent. I so wish sociology was listening. If 10% of sociologists knew 50% of what she says then research in sociology would be 100% better.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
November 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
How do people form beliefs about complex topics?
Happy to report our Bayesian model of the psychology of Bayesian updating is out in @ispp-pops.bsky.social! (w/ Gabriel Li & Krosnick)
If you gloss over the Greek, it's a new model for how to assess the impacts of information on summary judgments.
Happy to report our Bayesian model of the psychology of Bayesian updating is out in @ispp-pops.bsky.social! (w/ Gabriel Li & Krosnick)
If you gloss over the Greek, it's a new model for how to assess the impacts of information on summary judgments.
A certainty‐weighted, belief‐based model of political attitudes: A Bayesian analysis of American public attitudes toward the affordable care act
This study proposes a novel, certainty-weighted account of the process by which political beliefs shape political attitudes. Building upon expectancy-value frameworks, this paper introduces belief ce...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:47 PM
How do people form beliefs about complex topics?
Happy to report our Bayesian model of the psychology of Bayesian updating is out in @ispp-pops.bsky.social! (w/ Gabriel Li & Krosnick)
If you gloss over the Greek, it's a new model for how to assess the impacts of information on summary judgments.
Happy to report our Bayesian model of the psychology of Bayesian updating is out in @ispp-pops.bsky.social! (w/ Gabriel Li & Krosnick)
If you gloss over the Greek, it's a new model for how to assess the impacts of information on summary judgments.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Apply now to our next Summer School! 🤝
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Apply now to our next Summer School! 🤝
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
We are glad to host the Toulouse Summer School in Quantitative Social Sciences from 26 May to 19 June 2026 — a great opportunity for PhD students in economics, political science, and other social sciences.
Application: www.tse-fr.eu/toulouse-sum...
Semesters are too damn long
November 11, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Semesters are too damn long
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Academic tip: sometimes you have to write "Importantly," to get a sentence started and then you can go back and delete it.
November 6, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Academic tip: sometimes you have to write "Importantly," to get a sentence started and then you can go back and delete it.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/
Cognitive Science Graduate Admissions – Information about graduate admissions from the cognitive science faculty
sites.dartmouth.edu
October 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Here is another way to put the paradox. If you ask, "If I had different genes, would my personality be different?" Then the answer is, "Probably, yes." If you ask, "If I had THESE genes, what would my personality be like?", the answer is, "We don't have any idea."
October 17, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Here is another way to put the paradox. If you ask, "If I had different genes, would my personality be different?" Then the answer is, "Probably, yes." If you ask, "If I had THESE genes, what would my personality be like?", the answer is, "We don't have any idea."
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Term has started here, so I'm once again inundated with emails addressed "Sir" (used in UK secondary schools), "Mr" (same), and "heyyyyy" (??). Seems this brief blog for new students is still relevant: www.dalmaijer.org/2022/03/how-...
Feel free to use, if you find yourself in the same position!
Feel free to use, if you find yourself in the same position!
How to email your lecturer / professor – Quantitative Exploration of Development (Q.E.D.)
www.dalmaijer.org
October 1, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Term has started here, so I'm once again inundated with emails addressed "Sir" (used in UK secondary schools), "Mr" (same), and "heyyyyy" (??). Seems this brief blog for new students is still relevant: www.dalmaijer.org/2022/03/how-...
Feel free to use, if you find yourself in the same position!
Feel free to use, if you find yourself in the same position!
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Good point. Academia's love affair with journal status, which is at the root of its reluctance to embrace open access alternatives to the for-profit journals, facilitates the spread of misinformation.
Hard for truth to get its boots on when the boots are locked behind a paywall.
Hard for truth to get its boots on when the boots are locked behind a paywall.
In general I think it's hard to combat scientific misinformation when some of the best research is locked behind an academic paywall, while lots of nonsense gets published free for everyone to read in predatory journals.
September 29, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Good point. Academia's love affair with journal status, which is at the root of its reluctance to embrace open access alternatives to the for-profit journals, facilitates the spread of misinformation.
Hard for truth to get its boots on when the boots are locked behind a paywall.
Hard for truth to get its boots on when the boots are locked behind a paywall.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
The number of people who will respond to "Ask me for a copy" is a tiny fraction of those who would love to click on a non-paywalled link. Don't make people ask. SocArXiv is free to share, free to read, non-profit, academy-owned at a public university. Hello! Thanks for sharing.
It's great some authors will share their work if you email them for a pdf.
But this isn't a good use of your time, or theirs.
I do think academics have more important things to do than a system where they reply one by one to every potential reader who wants to read beyond the abstract.
But this isn't a good use of your time, or theirs.
I do think academics have more important things to do than a system where they reply one by one to every potential reader who wants to read beyond the abstract.
September 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The number of people who will respond to "Ask me for a copy" is a tiny fraction of those who would love to click on a non-paywalled link. Don't make people ask. SocArXiv is free to share, free to read, non-profit, academy-owned at a public university. Hello! Thanks for sharing.
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
@sociologicalsci.bsky.social is an awesome journal. Nothing less. #sociology
September 18, 2025 at 6:12 PM
@sociologicalsci.bsky.social is an awesome journal. Nothing less. #sociology
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Religiosity & gender attitudes go hand-in-hand. But which influences which?
New study by McElroy et al. shows earlier gender views tend to predict religious trajectories more than the reverse (except for young women).
Once again:
Cultural/political conflicts --> Religion
doi.org/10.1177/2378...
New study by McElroy et al. shows earlier gender views tend to predict religious trajectories more than the reverse (except for young women).
Once again:
Cultural/political conflicts --> Religion
doi.org/10.1177/2378...
September 15, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Religiosity & gender attitudes go hand-in-hand. But which influences which?
New study by McElroy et al. shows earlier gender views tend to predict religious trajectories more than the reverse (except for young women).
Once again:
Cultural/political conflicts --> Religion
doi.org/10.1177/2378...
New study by McElroy et al. shows earlier gender views tend to predict religious trajectories more than the reverse (except for young women).
Once again:
Cultural/political conflicts --> Religion
doi.org/10.1177/2378...
Reposted by Stephen Vaisey 🇺🇦
Friends don't let friends give preregistration a bad name. Exploratory findings are fine; you just have to label them!
Love it when you 1) do a proper preregistration, 2) find an unexpected finding in the course of examining your preregistered hypotheses, 3) present the unexpected finding as exploratory, and 4) a reviewer HAMMERS you for "undermining the integrity of the preregistration process?" 🫠
September 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Friends don't let friends give preregistration a bad name. Exploratory findings are fine; you just have to label them!