This course provides a broad overview of the field of population studies. Topics covered include: a survey of past and current trends in the growth of the population, analysis of the components of population change (fertility, mortality, migration) and their determinants, the social and economic consequences of population change (environmental, ageing and the welfare state), racial/ethnic and spatial inequality and population policy. The readings cover issues in industrialized as well as low-income countries, with a focus on the U.S. for several topics.

Course is designed for doctoral students in their third year of a specialization in demography. One objective of the course is to examine critically how researchers tackle demographic research questions. A second related goal is to explore the construction of a dissertation and a research paper.

About well-being throughout the world, with focus on income and health. Explores what happened to poverty, inequality, and health, in the US, and internationally. Discusses conceptual foundations of national and global measures of inequality, poverty, and health; construction of measures, and extent to which they can be trusted; relationship between globalization, poverty, and health, historically and currently. Examines links between health and income, why poor people are less healthy and live less long than rich people.

An examination of the economics of the labor market, especially the forces determining the supply of and demand for labor, the level of unemployment, labor mobility, the structure of relative wages, and the general level of wages.

An examination of those areas in the economic analysis of development where there have been recent analytical or empirical advances. Emphasis is given to the formulation of theoretical models and econometric analysis and testing. Topics covered include models of household/farm behavior, savings behavior, equity and efficiency in pricing policy, project evaluation, measurement of poverty and inequality, and the analysis of commodity prices.

Examines health issues in both developed and developing countries. Specific topics include the evolution of health over the life course; the fetal origins hypothesis; the two-way links between socioeconomic status and health; the impact of social safety nets on health outcomes; environmental threats to children's health and development; health insurance and its effects on health; the industrial organization of health care delivery; and the relationship between health and economic growth.

This course examines the ways in which gender and sexuality shape and are shaped by U.S. politics and public policy, emphasizing intersections with other categories, identities, and forms of marginalization including race, ethnicity, class, ideology, and partisan identification. We examine the history, approaches, and controversies in research about gender and sexuality in U.S. politics from a range of theoretical and methodological approaches. We also explore feminist, queer, and intersectional theories and methodologies, related work from other disciplines, and research that does not fit neatly into traditional disciplinary categories.

This is a doctoral-level introduction to mathematical statistics for PhD students in Politics and other social and behavioral sciences. The class covers rigorous foundations of probability theory, followed by a formal introduction to classical point estimation and statistical inference. The class covers both finite-sample and large-sample theory, and relies on linear algebra and multivariate calculus at the level of MAT 202 and MAT 203, respectively.

A rigorous first course in regression with applications to social science. Assuming only basic math, the course covers probability, inference from random samples, multiple regression and modern causal inference. Throughout we provide an introduction to programming with the open-source statistical package R and examples from current social science research.

Preparation of quantitative research papers based on field experiments, laboratory experiments, survey procedures, and secondary analysis of existing data banks.

The seminar addressrd the means of access to elite positions, including inheritance, education, and employment; wealth concentration and corporate and financial elites; the relation of oligarchy and democracy; and elites and culture.

Statistical analysis with applications to public policy, begins with an introduction to probability theory followed by discussion of statistical methods for estimating the quantitative effects of changes in policy variables. Regression methods appropriate for the analysis of observational data & data from randomized controlled experiments are stressed. By course end, students are able to do their own empirical analysis using statistical software package & interpret regression results from the professional literature. The course assumes fluency in calculus, which is necessary for rigorous mathematical analysis of probability & statistics.

This course is an introduction to the use of microeconomics for the analysis of public policy on an advanced level. The emphasis is on both the intuitive and formal logic of economic principles, a deeper perspective on the impacts of typical policy measures, and an introduction to the use of professional microeconomic tools to assess and weigh these policy impacts. One goal is to move students towards the ability to read professional microeconomic literature with appreciation of both its contributions and foibles.

This course focuses on the causes, consequences, and responses to urban inequality. The course is organized in four parts. First, we consider how one comes to learn about and understand cities and neighborhoods. Second, we review classic and current ideas about how urbanization affects the way we live and interact with each other. Third, we assess various explanations for urban inequality. Fourth, we focus our attention on central problems and challenges of urban life, from segregation to violence, and consider policy responses.

Economics is centrally concerned with models of human capital development, educational attainment, labor market dynamics, unemployment, labor turnover, job duration, wage setting institutions, the role of unions, human capital formation, the relationship between economic status and other aspects of well-being (including health). Economists are essential partners in the behavioral study of preferences and decision making, mobility and redistribution, and the institutions of industrial relations that govern the labor market.

A course required for and limited to students in the Joint Degree program in Social Policy. Two major areas of psychology make important contributions to the study of social policy and inequality. The first is social psychology, which focuses on inter-group relations, interpersonal perception, stereotyping, racism, aggression, justice and fairness. The second domain involves the fields of social-cognition, judgment and decision making, areas of research that study human information processing in a way that is not about individual differences, and often not social.

A course required for and limited to students in the Joint Degree program in Social Policy. Papers drafted in the year-long course WWS 590a,b,c,d must be revised and submitted to the workshop leader by August 20. Papers will be provided to an expert reader outside of the Princeton faculty, who is invited to join the seminar for sessions devoted to each student paper. Each student will present his/her own paper and simultaneously contribute written critiques of one another's papers. By the end of the term, students will be required to submit their papers for publication to a leading journal.

Course aims to improve students' abilities to understand and critically evaluate public opinion polls and surveys, particularly as they are used to influence public policy. Course begins with an overview of contrasting perspectives on the role of public opinion in politics, then examines the evolution of public opinion polling in the US and other countries. Class visits a major polling operation to get a firsthand look at procedures used for designing representative samples and conducting surveys by telephone, mail and Internet.

This course examines the emergence and persistence of urban poverty and inequality, focusing on the governance of urban development in the Global South. In the post-independence era, modernization theories dominated the approach of newly independent countries. How do we explain economic growth and rising inequality? What policy tools are at our disposal to combat economic inequality and spatial segregation? And, which sectors are integral in producing improved accessibility and inclusivity?

This course is designed as a practical introduction to the use of computer mapping (Geographic Information systems) for policy analysis and decision-making. Students learn ArcGIS through examples of map applications. Students are expected to complete exercises and a final project applying GIS to a policy issue.

This course focuses on the opportunities, constraints and roles of women in an increasingly interdependent economy. The class combines readings from both developed and developing country settings. Topics include: dynamics of fertility and household formation; labor market institutions--types of contracts, wage gaps and discrimination; intra-household allocation of resources and cash transfers; women's migration; education, STEM and stereotypes; violence; political and property rights.

This course examines the historical and contemporary literature on international migration, the policies that enable or impede cross-national migration, and the consequences for the sending and receiving states as well as the migrants themselves. Drawing on contemporary international evidence, students will consider classical and contemporary theories of immigrant adaptation, language acculturation, and ethnic conflict from comparative international evidence.

This course explores the professed and unspoken goals nations pursue with their health systems and the alternative economic and administrative structures different nations use to pursue those goals. The emphasis in the course will be on the industrialized world, although some time can be allocated later in the course to approaches used in the developing countries, if students in the course desire it.