Casey Breen

Highly recommend blocking off some time today to read this fantastic paper!

Our paper with Ginevra Floridi out in Sociological Science now!

We use sequence analysis, LCA & survival models to map how parental financial and co-residential support unfolds across young adulthood. We find 3 distinct pathways & a gendered relationship between marriage and independence.

🏡🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒💸

I’m recruiting a postdoctoral associate at NYU Abu Dhabi. Position is for 3 years with excellent salary, housing and benefits. Please share widely. For more information and application, link ⬇️

apply.interfolio.com/177935

Favorite books on *undergraduate* teaching?

New working paper up on SocArxiv! osf.io/preprints/so.... I use the 1940 Census and linked mortality records in combination with an IV-design to study the causal effects of racial segregation on longevity. I show that segregation reduces both Black and White longevity.

This method would benefit from more application, validation, and refinement in real humanitarian settings ...

Special thanks to fantastic collaborators from NGO @impact-initiatives.bsky.social for supporting methods development in this space!

This design could be deployed remotely in settings where operational constraints prevent humanitarian groups from reaching insecure areas, meaning it could potentially be applied to estimate death rates in a wide range of humanitarian emergencies.

This new method can be used to monitor trends in crude death rates over time.

However, the household estimate from the *probability* sample was much higher than other estimates, which may reflect strategic over-reporting (high levels of NGO operations in the area have been hypothesized to create incentives to overreport deaths).

From the quota sample, our estimates based on different types of respondent reports (i.e., reports on neighbors, kin, and household) produce similar and plausible crude death rate estimates.

As we reweighted to account for selection into the quota sample, the estimated death rates increased.

To account for selection into our quota sample, we constructed survey weights under several scenarios reflecting different hypothetical levels of auxiliary data availability for weighting targets.

An advantage of the network approach is that each interview provides mortality information on many more people than a typical mortality survey that asks respondents only about their household or siblings.

Qualitative fieldwork suggested testing two different types of personal networks as the basis for estimates: deaths among immediate neighbors and deaths among kin.

We did several weeks of in-person fieldwork (cognitive interviews, focus groups, etc.) to better understand the types of social networks people could report accurately on in this setting.

— Quota sample: sampled respondents from 3 health zones at major transit hubs (e.g., markets, taxi stops, ports, health clinics, and footpaths) who were coming into Kalemie City (N = 2,526)

— Probability sample: sampled respondents probabilistically across 3 health zones in their HH (N = 2,785)

We collected original data in Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a realistic setting where such emergencies have happened in the past.

Study design involved two data collection efforts: a quota sample possible in a humanitarian emergency and probability comparator sample.

We adapt the network survival method to the unique setting of humanitarian emergencies.

The idea behind the network survival method is that respondents can report on 1) the size of their social network and 2) deaths in their social networks. This info can be aggregated to estimate death rates.

Reliable estimates of death rates in complex humanitarian emergencies are critical for assessing the severity of a crisis and for allocating resources. However, in many humanitarian settings, logistical and security concerns make conventional methods for estimating death rates infeasible.

Estimating death rates in complex humanitarian emergencies using the network survival method Abstract. Reliable estimates of death rates in complex humanitarian emergencies are critical for assessing the severity of a crisis and for effectively all

Our new paper develops and tests a network-based method for estimating death rates in complex humanitarian emergencies.

Joint w/ @dennisfeehan.bsky.social and team from Geneva-based NGO @impact-initiatives.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/aje/advance-...

Our new pub finds flooding impacts on fertility differ in Bangladesh: “We detect…flood-related increases in childbearing among less-educated and higher parity women but find flood-related fertility declines among childless women and those in urban areas.”

New paper on flooding and birth rates in Bangladesh with @valmuellerasu.bsky.social (and others):

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History IPUMS USA Full Count Census Data Collection. Volume 58, Issue 4 of Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History

Pleased to be part of the history making "IPUMS USA Full Count Census Data" special issue in Historical Methods 58(4). @ipums.bsky.social @stevenruggles.bsky.social @mattanelson.bsky.social @juliariveradrew.bsky.social @evanrobertsnz.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/toc/vhim20/5...

Rewriting women's health: a content analysis of the Trump administration's revisions to womenshealth.gov In 2025, the Trump administration instituted rapid changes to the data and information available on US government websites. We conducted a content ana…

New publication with @susanshort.bsky.social in @lancetrh-americ.bsky.social. We analyzed 2025 revisions to womenshealth[dot]gov under the Trump administration -documenting how credible health content was replaced with ideology: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

IU Bloomington Sociology Location Bloomington Position Summary The Department of Sociology (https://sociology.indiana.edu/index.html) at Indiana University, Bloomington, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the level of Assistant Professor to begin in the fall of 2026 in the general area of sociology of medicine, health, and/or well-being broadly defined. We encourage applicants whose research in medicine, health, and/or well-being would complement department strengths in the areas of education, social psychology, political sociology, sociology of the family, sociology of inequality, stratification, and population. The tenure home for this position will be in the Department of Sociology. Ph.D. in Sociology is required at time of appointment. Applicants should apply online at https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/30984 including a cover letter; CV; statements on research and/or teaching; up to three writing samples; and contact information for three letters of reference. Applications must be complete by November 16, 2025, to receive full consideration. Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Queries can be sent to Fabio Rojas (frojas@iu.edu), Department of Sociology Chair, or Jennifer Barber (jenbarb@iu.edu), Chair of the Search Committee. Indiana University is an equal opportunity employer and provider of ADA services and prohibits discrimination in hiring. See Indiana University Notice of Non-Discrimination here which includes contact information.

Oh hey, little update. Indiana University Department of Sociology is hiring this fall. Keeping you on your toes deadline is 11/16. We’re looking for an assistant professor specializing in sociology of medicine, health, and/or well-being broadly defined. indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/30984

Women are 19% less likely to use the internet and 8% less likely to own a mobile phone than men.

That’s 320 million fewer women online and 190 million fewer with phones globally 🌍

Amazing postdoc opportunity!

Mitigation efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the Paris Agreement have been offset by economic growth - Communications Earth & Environment Global carbon dioxide intensity declined from 2015 to 2024 following the Paris Agreement, but total emissions still increased due to economic growth, according to a global analysis of population, gros...

Our article “Mitigation efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the Paris Agreement have been offset by economic growth” www.nature.com/articles/s43..., w Jitong Jiang & Skylar Shi just published. See also the @uwnews.uw.edu release www.washington.edu/news/2025/10...

Heart full of joy and gratitude for my depicted, literal superhero team 🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸of incredible supervisors Josh Wilde, @ridhikashyap.bsky.social, @melindacmills.bsky.social, and excellent examiners @drjenndowd.bsky.social & @ftorche.bsky.social, as well as my terrific mentors, peers, & friends!!!

@oxforddemsci.bsky.social @nuffieldlibrary.bsky.social

Thanks to wonderful co-authors for this collaboration:

@ridhikashyap.bsky.social, @ingmarweber.de, Masoomali Fatehkia, Jiani Yan, Xinyi Zhao, Douglas Leasure