Opening the government’s black boxes: freedom of information and algorithmic accountability

Freedom of information laws are intended to illuminate how governments operate. However, the operations of governments increasingly involve algorithms, such as those used to recommend criminal sentencing and determine eligibility for social services. Algorithms function as ‘black boxes’ that turn inputs into outputs using processes that are often, by design, not transparent. Freedom of information laws allow one potential means for algorithmic transparency. However, whether such laws can be used to access algorithms is unclear. This research examines, in two ways, the availability of government algorithms to the public. First, this study examines laws, regulations, advisory opinions, and court rulings relevant to the disclosure of algorithms. The second part of this study analyzes actual responses by US government agencies to Freedom of Information Act requests for algorithms. This study concludes that governmental policies and practices related to algorithmic disclosure are inconsistent. Such inconsistencies suggest a need for better mechanisms to hold government algorithms accountable.     

The EITC and the labor supply of adult dependents: direct effects and family income effects

Tax data suggest that the population of adult dependents—adults relying on the support of others for the majority of their financial needs—has more than doubled over the last decade. However, little is known about how taxes affect the labor supply decisions of this population. This paper provides an initial investigation, studying the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansions of the early 1990s on the labor supply of adult dependents living with their relatives. I find that dependent individuals who were not a part of the nuclear family responded to the EITC expansions, increasing labor force participation by about 5 percentage points. For adult children, I show that the absence of a net response is likely due to an unexpected consequence of the EITC: expanded family credits led to a decrease in their labor force participation.     

Correction to: Parental Status and Biological Functioning: Findings from the Nashville Stress and Health Study

Population Research and Policy Review - Unfortunately, due to an error upon submission of this article, the article was published with an incomplete author group. Dr. Katherine L. Friedman was not...     

Enhancing vowel discrimination using constructed spelling

In a computerized task, an adult with intellectual disabilities learned to construct consonant-vowel-consonant words in the presence of corresponding spoken words. During the initial assessment, the participant demonstrated high accuracy on one word group (containing the vowel-consonant units it and un) but low accuracy on the other group (containing the units ag and ed). Errors occurred almost exclusively in the vowel position. Training the group with low accuracy increased accuracy on the trained word group but decreased the accuracy on the untrained, but initially accurate, group. High accuracy on both groups together occurred only after added training in which all five vowels (a, e, i, u, and o) were taught together in words that differed only in the vowel. These findings indicate the importance of carefully arranging examples and nonexamples to sharpen stimulus control. The findings also illustrate a promising step in the development of effective instructional programming for remediation of medial-vowel errors, which can be a source of difficulty in early reading instruction.     

Research,policy and funding – academic treadmills and the squeeze on intellectual spaces1

In recent years, there has been a great deal of collective rumination about social scientists' role in society. In the post‐1997 UK context, public policy commitments to ‘evidence‐based policy’ and ‘knowledge transfer’ have further stimulated such reflections. More recently, Michael Burawoy's 2004 address to the American Sociological Association, which called for greater engagement with ‘public sociology’ has reverberated throughout the discipline, motivating a series of debates about the purpose of sociological research. To date, most such contributions have been based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. In contrast, this paper responds directly to Burawoy's suggestion that we should ‘apply sociology to ourselves,’ in order that we ‘become more conscious of the global forces’ driving our research ( Burawoy 2005 : 285). Drawing on an empirical research project designed to explore of the relationship between health inequalities research and policy in Scotland and England, in the period from 1997 until 2007, this paper discusses data from interviews with academic researchers. The findings suggest that the growing pressure to produce ‘policy relevant’ research is diminishing the capacity of academia to provide a space in which innovative and transformative ideas can be developed, and is instead promoting the construction of institutionalized and vehicular (chameleon‐like) ideas. Such a claim supports Edward Said's (1994 ) insistence that creative, intellectual spaces within the social sciences are increasingly being squeezed. More specifically, the paper argues we ought to pay far greater attention to how the process of seeking research funding shapes academic research and mediates the interplay between research and policy.     

Factors Associated with Long-Term Survival of Family Businesses: Duration Analysis

This study identified factors influencing family business survival using National Family Business Panel and Spatial Hazard Events and Losses data. Sustainable Family Business Theory guided the use of a parametric duration model of long-term survival. Community characteristics, family achievements, family processes during change, business and owner characteristics, and business processes during stability affected long-term survival. Economic vulnerability of rural counties, family income from business, hiring temporary help, business size, viewing business as a way of life, and owner experience were associated with increased duration of business survival. Being home-based, a female owner, and customer-focused were associated with decreased duration of survival. Some family processes and achievements increased the duration of business survival; none decreased it.     

The Moderating Effects of Pubertal Timing on the Longitudinal Associations Between Parent–Child Relationship Quality and Adolescent Substance Use

This prospective, longitudinal study investigated the moderating role of pubertal timing on reciprocal links between adolescent appraisals of parent–child relationship quality and girls' (N=1,335) and boys' (N=1,203) cigarette and alcohol use across a 12‐month period. Reciprocal effects were found between parent–child relations and on‐time maturing boys and girls' cigarette and alcohol use, after estimating stability in these constructs across time. Parent–child relationship quality was associated with increased alcohol use 12 months later for early maturing girls. Cigarette and alcohol use were associated with increased problems in the parent–child relationship for late maturing girls. No effects were observed for early and late maturing boys in the pathways between parent–child relationship quality and substance use. Pubertal timing moderated the pathway linking parent–child relationship quality with cigarette use 1 year later such that the association was stronger for late maturing girls compared with early and on‐time maturing girls. The findings indicate interplay between the psychosocial aspects of maturation, family relationships, and adolescent substance use and highlight possible gender‐specific influences.     

A puzzle concerning triads in social networks: Graph constraints and the triad census

Evidence from many sources shows that triadic tendencies are important structural features of social networks (e.g. transitivity or triadic closure) and triadic configurations are the basis for both theoretical claims and substantive outcomes (e.g. strength of weak ties, tie stability, or trust). A contrasting line of research demonstrates that triads in empirical social networks are well predicted by lower order graph features (density and dyads), accounting for around 90% of the variability in triad distributions when comparing different social networks (Faust, 2006, 2007, 2008). These two sets of results present a puzzle: how can substantial triadic tendencies occur when triads in empirical social networks are largely explained by lower order graph features? This paper provides insight into the puzzle by considering constraints that lower order graph features place on the triad census. Taking a comparative perspective, it shows that triad censuses from 159 social networks of diverse species and social relations are largely explained by their lower order graph features (the dyad census) through formal constraints that force triads to occur in narrow range of configurations. Nevertheless, within these constraints, a majority of networks exhibit significant triadic patterning by departing from expectation.     

Changes in flourishing from adolescence to young adulthood: An 8-year follow-up

Most research on mental health among adolescents and young adults concentrates on understanding mental illness. However, mental health is more than the absence of mental illness. Among adolescents and young adults, positive mental health—a combination of emotional, social and psychological well-being—is related to higher prosocial behaviour, school integration and self-concept. However, much of the research on positive mental health among young adults has been with college students. Limited research has examined the presence and correlates of positive mental health, or flourishing, among a nationally representative sample of US young adults. This study extended from another researcher's original examination of positive mental health among US adolescents to describe the prevalence of flourishing among these same individuals in young adulthood. Our sample included 1090 individuals from the 2011 Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition into Adulthood Supplement. Univariate and bivariate tests were used to describe the prevalence of flourishing during young adulthood and changes from adolescence to young adulthood. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationships among indicators of healthy development and flourishing. Results suggest that flourishing improved during the transition into young adulthood and that targeting factors like life skills and civic engagement may enhance flourishing.     

The Introduction of Capitalism in Russian Agriculture: Popular Response to Neo-Liberal Reforms1

Abstract This work analyzes the reactions of rural residents to the introduction of market-oriented economic reforms in the Russian agricultural sector. Employing primary data collected in a 1995 survey of three villages in the Russian Republic, we argue that strong resistance to the introduction of Neo-liberal market-oriented reforms exists, often based on the respondents' awareness of the importance of social interdependence. Rural residents feel harmed by government reforms, reject further reforms in agriculture, and would prefer a return to pre-1991 conditions. Although most have experienced a decline in village solidarity, they also believe that some forms of collective life will persist in rural communities. Respondents also question the fairness of economic markets given their observation that many have gotten ahead by illegal activities. In general, those with more resources are slightly less negative in their responses. Still, we argue that these results do not necessarily indicate that rural Russians totally reject the move toward a market-based economy. Rather, the results taken together suggest that points of strain and resistance emerge from the rapid introduction of market-oriented reforms, with little protection from unwanted consequences and the uncertainties of capitalism, in a context characterized by a long tradition of collective social relations.