This course provides a broad overview of the field of population studies. Topics covered include: a survey of past and current trends in the growth of the population, analysis of the components of population change (fertility, mortality, migration) and their determinants, the social and economic consequences of population change (environmental, ageing and the welfare state), racial/ethnic and spatial inequality and population policy. The readings cover issues in industrialized as well as low-income countries, with a focus on the U.S. for several topics.

Course is designed for doctoral students in their third year of a specialization in demography. One objective of the course is to examine critically how researchers tackle demographic research questions. A second related goal is to explore the construction of a dissertation and a research paper.

This course focuses on the opportunities, constraints and roles of women in an increasingly interdependent economy. The class combines readings from both developed and developing country settings. Topics include: dynamics of fertility and household formation; labor market institutions--types of contracts, wage gaps and discrimination; intra-household allocation of resources and cash transfers; women's migration; education, STEM and stereotypes; violence; political and property rights.

This course uses the lens of reproductive justice to examine policy and politics around reproduction and family formation in the United States. The course explores the social, historical and cultural forces that shape reproduction, focusing on how inequalities based on gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, class, and citizenship structure and influence reproductive opportunities and experiences. Topics include contraception and abortion, childbirth and maternity care, adoption and family policy, reproductive technology, eugenics, the maternal mortality crisis, and the role of law, medicine and activism in shaping contemporary reproduction.

This course examines the historical and contemporary literature on international migration, the policies that enable or impede cross-national migration, and the consequences for the sending and receiving states as well as the migrants themselves. Drawing on contemporary international evidence, students will consider classical and contemporary theories of immigrant adaptation, language acculturation, and ethnic conflict from comparative international evidence.

An examination of the economics of the labor market, especially the forces determining the supply of and demand for labor, the level of unemployment, labor mobility, the structure of relative wages, and the general level of wages.

An examination of those areas in the economic analysis of development where there have been recent analytical or empirical advances. Emphasis is given to the formulation of theoretical models and econometric analysis and testing. Topics covered include models of household/farm behavior, savings behavior, equity and efficiency in pricing policy, project evaluation, measurement of poverty and inequality, and the analysis of commodity prices.

This class is an introduction to research design and statistical methods for empirical analysis targeted to Ph.D. students in Politics and other social sciences. In the first part, the class introduces the potential outcomes framework and how to analyze randomized controlled experiments, including basic statistical tools such as populations and sampling, hypothesis tests, large-sample results, and least squares methods. In the second part, the class covers non-experimental designs, including selection on observables, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity. Students learn the statistical software R and analyze real datasets.

Second course in applied statistical methods for social scientists, building on the materials covered in POL 572 or its equivalent. Course covers a variety of statistical methods including models for longitudinal data and survival data. Material covered corresponds to the quantitative part of the General Exam in Formal and Quantitative Analysis at Level II.

This two-day workshop is concerned with the professional obligations of political science researchers. This course is designed to raise those concerns and develop in students an appreciation for the issues that they might confront as they do their work. Topics include the relationship of political science as an academic discipline to democratic politics and institutions, advocacy and objectivity in political science, plagiarism and academic misconduct, human subjects and fieldwork, institutional review boards, funding sources and intellectual integrity, collaboration, and mentoring. Required of all first year Politics graduate students.

A rigorous first course in regression with applications to social science. Assuming only basic math, the course covers probability, inference from random samples, multiple regression and modern causal inference. Throughout we provide an introduction to programming with the open-source statistical package R and examples from current social science research.

This course offers an introduction to the sociological literature on stratification, inequality, and social mobility.

Statistical analysis with applications to public policy, begins with an introduction to probability theory followed by discussion of statistical methods for estimating the quantitative effects of changes in policy variables. Regression methods appropriate for the analysis of observational data & data from randomized controlled experiments are stressed. By course end, students are able to do their own empirical analysis using statistical software package & interpret regression results from the professional literature. The course assumes fluency in calculus, which is necessary for rigorous mathematical analysis of probability & statistics.

This course is an introduction to the use of microeconomics for the analysis of public policy on an advanced level. The emphasis is on both the intuitive and formal logic of economic principles, a deeper perspective on the impacts of typical policy measures, and an introduction to the use of professional microeconomic tools to assess and weigh these policy impacts. One goal is to move students towards the ability to read professional microeconomic literature with appreciation of both its contributions and foibles.

This course focuses on the causes, consequences, and responses to urban inequality. The course is organized in four parts. First, we consider how one comes to learn about and understand cities and neighborhoods. Second, we review classic and current ideas about how urbanization affects the way we live and interact with each other. Third, we assess various explanations for urban inequality. Fourth, we focus our attention on central problems and challenges of urban life, from segregation to violence, and consider policy responses.

Economics is centrally concerned with models of human capital development, educational attainment, labor market dynamics, unemployment, labor turnover, job duration, wage setting institutions, the role of unions, human capital formation, the relationship between economic status and other aspects of well-being (including health). Economists are essential partners in the behavioral study of preferences and decision making, mobility and redistribution, and the institutions of industrial relations that govern the labor market.

A course required for and limited to students in the Joint Degree program in Social Policy. Two major areas of psychology make important contributions to the study of social policy and inequality. The first is social psychology, which focuses on inter-group relations, interpersonal perception, stereotyping, racism, aggression, justice and fairness. The second domain involves the fields of social-cognition, judgment and decision making, areas of research that study human information processing in a way that is not about individual differences, and often not social.

A course required for and limited to students in the Joint Degree program in Social Policy. Papers drafted in the year-long course SPI 590a,b,c,d must be revised and submitted to the workshop leader by August 20. Papers will be provided to an expert reader outside of the Princeton faculty, who is invited to join the seminar for sessions devoted to each student paper. Each student will present his/her own paper and simultaneously contribute written critiques of one another's papers. By the end of the term, students will be required to submit their papers for publication to a leading journal.

Course aims to improve students' abilities to understand and critically evaluate public opinion polls and surveys, particularly as they are used to influence public policy. Course begins with an overview of contrasting perspectives on the role of public opinion in politics, then examines the evolution of public opinion polling in the US and other countries. Class visits a major polling operation to get a firsthand look at procedures used for designing representative samples and conducting surveys by telephone, mail and Internet.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the inequity of the digital divide into sharp relief. There is a broad understanding that policymakers need to invest in broadband access technology, home computing equipment, and educational training if they hope to make a difference. But there are open questions about what are effective strategies to pursue and how should governments measure impact. This seminar takes a deep dive into these pressing issues of equity and aims to have students develop actionable recommendations to share with policymakers.

This course is designed as a practical introduction to the use of computer mapping (Geographic Information systems) for policy analysis and decision-making. Students learn ArcGIS through examples of map applications. Students are expected to complete exercises and a final project applying GIS to a policy issue.

This course explores the professed and unspoken goals nations pursue with their health systems and the alternative economic and administrative structures different nations use to pursue those goals. The emphasis in the course will be on the industrialized world, although some time can be allocated later in the course to approaches used in the developing countries, if students in the course desire it.