The post first appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat. A bill intending to discourage students from enrolling in majors that “do not directly lead to employment” is winding its way through the Florida Legislature. Unfortunately, this bill seriously misunderstands the nature of current labor markets. A person’s major does not necessarily lead to employment in any…
Florida Can Make Better Choices and Improve Outcomes by Embracing Evidence-Based Policymaking
The LeRoy Collins Institute at the Florida State University recently released a report that provides a blueprint for a better approach to making state policy and budget decisions by using rigorous evidence to inform these choices. Florida is widely known as a low tax/low services state, and it faces growing challenges. We rank 35th among…
Honors Thesis Spotlight: Perception of Charter Schools: A Study of Latinx Parents’ Engagement in School Choice
This pilot investigation studies the priorities, perceptions, and tactics of Latinx and Hispanic parents in Miami-Dade County as they navigate the school choice marketplace through interviews with nine parents of school-aged children about their experiences regarding the school choice system. The research questions for this project were as follows: What considerations do Latinx parents…
Swarming tornadoes
This post first appeared on the Florida State University’s Department of Geography News & Chair’s Blog. The violent winds of tornadoes are one of the most dangerous natural hazards on Earth. While relatively rare in any one location they often occur in swarms. I’ve been working with graduate student Zoe Schroder to answer the question of whether…
Meet a Social Scientist: Dr. Fang from Urban and Regional Planning
What is your name? Dr. Kerry Fang What kind of work do you do in the College?I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. I teach, do research and engage in service in the department, profession and community. Why did you decide to become an academic?The academic lifestyle is very attractive…
Living with the Lionfish Problem: Awareness and Joint Operations
This post first appeared on the Devoe L. Moore Center blog. As Florida looks inward to address ecological concerns, the lionfish invasion continues to plague coastal citizens and marine fauna. The problem has hampered both fishermen and ecological researchers in the Gulf Coast, effectively choking growth and stability on local reefs. With a growing population in the Gulf,…
Wicked Webinar: Neighborhoods First: Community Action for Equitable City Planning
The post is based on a webinar sponsored by the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University. A Wicked Webinar panel discussion on community engagement, moderated by Dr. Tisha Holmes (FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning) and leaders from the Providence Neighborhood Association (PNA). Community-based action research is working at the local…
Insights from Experiments for Public Economics and Public Policy
Recently, I had the honor of serving as a coeditor on a special issue of Public Finance Review with two incredible colleagues: Prof. James C. Cox of Georgia State University and Associate Professor Abhijit Ramalingam of Appalachian State University. “Public finance” can be defined narrowly as the study of the taxation and expenditure policies of governments at…
Meet a Social Scientist: Dr. Staley from the DeVoe Moore Center.
What is your name? Dr. Samuel R. Staley. What kind of work do you do in the College?I am the Director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University. In addition to my responsibilities providing strategic direction and supervision of center operations and programs, I teach advanced undergraduate and professional masters courses in social…
Ph.D. Spotlight: Generalization Performance and Properties of Pruned Neural Networks
By removing as much as 90% or more of a deep neural network’s (DNN’s) parameters, a wide variety of pruning approaches not only allow for DNN compression but also increase generalization (model performance on test/unseen data). This observation is in conflict with emerging DNN generalization theory and empirical observations, however, which suggest that DNNs generalize…
