The Conversation

Democracy is in danger when the census undercounts vulnerable populations

Written by Emily Klancher Merchant, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, University of California, Davis

US census advocates held a rally in Charlotte, NC, in 2010.AP Photo/Jason E. Miczek

The 2020 U.S. Census is still two years away, but experts and civil rights groups are already disputing the results.

At issue is whether the census will fulfill the Census Bureau’s mandate to “count everyone once, only once, and in the right place.”

T...

How to stay honest this tax season

Written by Christian B. Miller, A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University

Each year many people cheat on their taxes.Pictures of Money, CC BY

As Americans begrudgingly work through their taxes this year, many could be facing a moral struggle about whether to be honest or not. They might be thinking about exaggerating that donation to Goodwill, or not reporting that side job, among other things.

It is true that each year...

Busting Russia's fake news the European Union way

Written by Thomas Holt, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University

Trolls spread Russian disinformation campaigns across Europe and the U.S.Shutterstock

The U.S. has been rocked over the last two years by claims that the Russian government directly attempted to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

Social media companies initially claimed such efforts must have been limited in scope. But this notion was...

Baseball teams need to protect fans from foul balls -- and US courts need to lift MLB's special liability exemption

Written by Nathaniel Grow, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana University

Close call?AP Photo/Morry Gash

Tens of thousands of fans are gathering at Major League Baseball ballparks around the country for hot dogs, home runs, their favorite players’ autographs and the fresh grass on the field.

Few fans will consider the possibility that they could be blinded or suffer a serious head injury by a ball or bat leaving the...

Abusive relationships: Why it's so hard for women to 'just leave'

Written by Daniel G. Saunders, Professor Emeritus of Social Work, University of Michigan

Women who try to leave abusive relationships face many obstaclesShutterstock

“And so I stayed.”

In a widely read blog post, Jennifer Willoughby wrote this phrase after each of the many reasons she gave for enduring what she described as her abusive marriage to former White House aide Rob Porter.

Willoughby’s reasons are consistent...

Active shooter drills may reshape how a generation of students views school

Written by Devon Magliozzi, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Stanford University

A police officer portrays an active shooter with an assault rifle loaded with dummy rounds.AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Recent school shootings and the March for Our Lives rallies held in cities around the world on March 24 have rekindled debates over how to keep students safe.

“The notion of ‘it can’t happen here’ is no longer a...

Hospitals hit back on drug pricing, but will they knock out the problem?

Written by Ernst Berndt, Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan, holds two EpiPens as she testified before Congress Sept. 21, 2016 about rising costs of the drug.AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Drug manufacturing and pricing vaulted into the news several years ago when a privately held company raised the price of a drug used for infections from US$13.50 to $750 for one pill.

After...

Pakistan's activist Supreme Court endangers a fragile democracy

Written by Adnan Rasool, Ph.D. Candidate/ Student Innovation Fellow, Georgia State University

Pakistanis head to the polls to elect their next prime minister in July. Until then, though, the Supreme Court seems to be in charge of the country.

In July 2017, revelations from the Panama Papers leak spurred Pakistan’s high court to rule that then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had lied to the public about his family finances. Sharif, who...

Baby bust: 5 charts show how expensive it is to have kids in the US today

Written by Heidi Steinour, Visting Instructor in Sociology, University of South Florida

Out-of-pocket expenses for delivery run in the tens of thousands for many Americans.mathom/shutterstock.com

Today, roughly one in five women in the U.S. doesn’t have children. Thanks in part to this decline in birthrate, for the first time in U.S. history, there may soon be more elderly people than children.

Based on trends in costs,...

Why it's so hard to #DeleteFacebook: Constant psychological boosts keep you hooked

Written by S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communication & Co-Director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University

Your finger may hover, but it's hard get rid of it once and for all.ymgerman/Shutterstock.com

Here we go again: another Facebook controversy, yet again violating our sense of privacy by letting others harvest our personal information. This flareup is a big one to be sure, leading some people to consider leaving Facebook altogether, but the company...