Thomas Lux

Data Visualization A Practical Introduction

Here’s a full draft of the upcoming second edition of my “Data Visualization: A Practical Introduction”: socviz.co

This is the *fifth* study to undermine the idea that the muted political response to inequality is due to growing meritocracy beliefs, esp. among the poor.

- Inequality erodes meritocracy beliefs
- Poor meritocrats still want redistribution
- What matters is the politicization of inequality

Links:

Wie häufig stimmen die Parteien bei der Landtagswahl in Baden-Württemberg in ihren Positionen im #wahlomat überein?

@wahlforschung.thorstenfaas.de und ich hab da mal was vorbereitet.

Based on a representative survey of academics at German universities, Christiane Thompson and I find little support for "canceling" controversial views on campus. Instead, universities are widely expected to facilitate debate on controversial issues. Our two main findings:
doi.org/10.1007/s110...

Now out in the American Sociological Review

We present the first large-scale assessment of the structure and evolution of temporalities expressed in U.S. climate change news coverage (2000 to 2021). For this, we analyzed more than 23,000 statements about climate change effects and actions. 🧵 1/

Am 11. März (19:30 Uhr) präsentieren @tbiebricher.bsky.social und der Herausgeber im Gespräch mit @sebfriedrich.bsky.social und @nschniederjann.bsky.social den Band OBEN RECHTS @suhrkamp.de im Literaturforum im Berliner Brecht-Haus: lfbrecht.de/event/oben-r...

Journalistisch und analytisch der absolute Tiefpunkt der ersten Ausgabe der Ostdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung: Die Chrupalla Home-Story stellt ihn als einen Biedermann dar, der vor allem nicht ausgegrenzt werden möchte, ebenso wie seine ostdeutschen Wähler.

NEW PUBLICATION
“How the Media Cordon Sanitaire Crumbles: Lessons from Germany” now out in @prxjournal.bsky.social
🔓 doi.org/10.1080/2474736X.2026.2621808
I’m very happy that this paper is out – this project is particularly important to me.

dplyr 1.2.0 dplyr 1.2.0 fills in some important gaps in dplyr's API: we've added a new complement to `filter()` focused on dropping rows, and we've expanded the `case_when()` family with three new recoding and re...

dplyr 1.2.0 is out now and we are SO excited!

- `filter_out()` for dropping rows

- `recode_values()`, `replace_values()`, and `replace_when()` that join `case_when()` as a complete family of recoding/replacing tools

These are huge quality of life wins for #rstats!

tidyverse.org/blog/2026/02...

Very interesting research paper that shows that using AI with programming can significantly reduce mastery over topics. Perhaps unsurprising, but the lack of significant speed gains in this exercise are remarkable

www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...

31. Januar 1933

#Machtübergabe #NSDAP #Hindenburg #Goebbels #Regierungsbildung #Hitler #Nationalsozialismus #Reichstag

(See alt-text for English)

Now officially published in jpeaceresearch.bsky.social.

Link to full-text:
academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-...

#PoliticalScience #PoliticalPsychology

“Remigrationsoffensive in die Ukraine” und “gute Beziehingen zu Russland” - das fordert die AfD Sachsen-Anhalt im Entwurf ihres Wahlprogramms 2026.

Link zum kompletten Programmentwurf (Quelle: Politico): www.politico.eu/wp-content/u...

Die AfD-Landtagsfraktion Thüringen hat heute Rechtsextremist Sellner in den Landtag eingeladen, um über seinen verfassungswidrigen “Remigrationsplan” zu referieren.

Putin pioneered this. No opposition is legitimate. Regular, decent, “ordinary” people cannot possibly be against us because only we represent “the real people.”

Tell-tale sign of authoritarianism.

Imagine what’s happening in the camps.

Im thüringischen #Saalfeld sind heute rund 1.000 Menschen auf die Straße gegangen, um gegen rechten Terror zu demonstrieren. Anlass für die Demonstration ist der Brandanschlag auf das alternative Kulturzentrum „Schlossberg“ vor rund einer Woche.

Weitere Bilder:
www.flickr.com/photos/pm_ch...

Austerity and Populism A large literature explains the rise of populist parties with the economic insecurities stemming from globalization and technological change. But despite the long-standing focus of the comparative and...

Very happy that our review article (with the @annualreviews.bsky.social) on „Austerity and Populism“ is now available as preprint: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... - with @sattlersthomas.bsky.social

The Carney doctrine Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech

Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.

An experimental study on institutions and social norms of tax payment Abstract. The production of public goods, which are fundamental to well-functioning societies, requires the payment of taxes, but taxpayers have clear ince

New OA In ESR

How do institutions and social norms affect tax payment?
@lucaspasin.bsky.social #Aaszekely @squazzoni.bsky.social find that in low-quality institutions contexts, social norms can trigger vicious cycles of evasion, even when evasion is socially disapproved
doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcaf057

Soziologe Steffen Mau: "Wissenschaftler müssen Ergebnisse aushalten, die ihnen nicht gefallen" Soziologe Steffen Mau ist ein "Skeptiker gegenüber einer Wissenschaft, die eine stark politisierte oder normative Agenda hat". Er sieht dafür viele Anzeichen.

Interview mit @kathrinkuehn.bsky.social für die Sendung Systemfragen im Deutschlandfunk zum Thema der Politisierung und Beeinflussung der Wissenschaft. www.deutschlandfunk.de/bonusmateria...

Schnörkellos, klar argumentierend und sehr gut lesbar: Mit „Klassengesellschaft akut“ liefert Nicole Mayer-Ahuja einen kritischen Zustandsbericht aus der Arbeitswelt der Unternehmen und Betriebe der deutschen Privatwirtschaft. Rezensent Lutz Raphael ist angetan.

www.soziopolis.de/von-marx-ins...

Der Eisvogel hat sich bei der Kälte am Wochenende aufgeplustert und sein Kopf ins Federkleid gesteckt, um auszuruhen.

#birds #birding #nature #wildlife #naturephotography #wildlifephotography

The Age of Academic Slop is Upon Us what happens when AI automates "normal science"?

I just finished a three-year term as an editor at an international relations journal. I began at the start of the LLM era but ended right in the middle of it. Our volume of submissions tripled and our desk reject rate rose to 75%. I have some thoughts.
open.substack.com/pub/hegemon/...

The datasets from our @protestinstitut.bsky.social project ‘20 years of protest survey data’ are finally online for scientific re-use. We processed 30+ datasets, covering protests on peace, climate, trade, migration, equality & more. Now available @gesis.org 👇

search.gesis.org?source=%7B%2...

Polarizing social figures? Climate activists in German media and popular discourse ABSTRACT. Although attitudes towards climate change are generally uncontroversial in Europe, the public discourse on climate change is becoming increasingly contentious. This article introduces the cl...

What drives polarization in public discourse? I suggest looking at how social figures are constructed and used in the media and everyday political conversations. “The climate activist” in German media and popular discourse serves as a good example.

More here: doi.org/10.1162/euso...

Very happy to see this out in CPS! We study class identities and their social and political relevance over several decades in Britain, Denmark, Norway, and the US. A small thread:

journals.sagepub.com/eprint/SIRW4...

Für die Jahresendausgabe der @jungle.world durfte ich einen Beitrag zur Ästhetik schreiben. Als Besitz lässt sich Schönheit weder ins Wohnzimmer hängen noch irgendwo hinstellen. Sie ist ein Versprechen, das einzulösen bleibt – gerade dann, wenn die Zeiten finster werden.

How Can We Size Your Core Issue? Assessing Salience Validity Using Psychophysiology Abstract. Much research in public opinion attempts to operationalize and measure individual issue salience. Measuring this concept presents its own set of

Interessantes Messinstrument zur Erfassung von #Triggerpunkten jenseits klassischer Surveyitems: "This paper aims to transcend the classical methods used in surveys to measure salience (...) with physiological measures." (OA 🔓) @steffenmau.bsky.social @thomaslux.bsky.social @lwestheuser.bsky.social

Christmas Tree at our Max Planck Institute in Göttingen @mpimmg.bsky.social (courtesy of @thomasgerdes.de)