Erika Franklin Fowler

Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 3d

Thread 🧵 relevant to #wesgov372 #wesgov366 and #wesqac380

Petter Törnberg @pettertornberg.com · 3d

LLMs are now widely used in social science as stand-ins for humans—assuming they can produce realistic, human-like text

But... can they? We don’t actually know.

In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test.

And our findings are striking:
LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵

Computational Turing Test Reveals Systematic Differences Between Human and AI Language

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in the social sciences to simulate human behavior, based on the assumption that they can generate realistic, human-like text. Yet this assumption rem...

arxiv.org

Petter Törnberg @pettertornberg.com · 3d

LLMs are now widely used in social science as stand-ins for humans—assuming they can produce realistic, human-like text

But... can they? We don’t actually know.

In our new study, we develop a Computational Turing Test.

And our findings are striking:
LLMs may be far less human-like than we think.🧵

Computational Turing Test Reveals Systematic Differences Between Human and AI Language

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in the social sciences to simulate human behavior, based on the assumption that they can generate realistic, human-like text. Yet this assumption rem...

arxiv.org

Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social · 6d

Record-breaking turnout at the campus voting precinct today. the energy was unreal, all day.

line graph showing turnout 2019 - 2025. In 2025 it's 34.39%, the highest on the graph.

Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · 6d

We’re hiring! @oii.ox.ac.uk, The Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods and @politicsoxford.bsky.social are seeking to appoint an Associate Professor of Politics, Technology and Computational Social Sciences. Post in association with @reubencollege.bsky.social. 1/2

Andrew Heiss @andrew.heiss.phd · 11d

Newest LLM tell/quirk in coding assignments this semester: instead of generating code based on the CSVs that I provide, LLMs have been inventing datasets with rnorm() and sample() (and an obligatory set.seed(42)) and then making plots with the fake data.

I'm so tired.

Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 13d

Relevant for our #wesgov372 discussions this week!

Sarah Scott Scire @sarahscire.com · 13d

“There is a set of populous countries, generally where traditional media are under pressure and social media use is high, where news creators are having a significant impact"

@hanaatameez.bsky.social wrote up a fascinating @reutersinstitute.bsky.social report www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/news...

These countries include US Brazil South Africa India Nigeria Kenya Thailand and Indonesia.

Sarah Scott Scire @sarahscire.com · 13d

“There is a set of populous countries, generally where traditional media are under pressure and social media use is high, where news creators are having a significant impact"

@hanaatameez.bsky.social wrote up a fascinating @reutersinstitute.bsky.social report www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/news...

Rachel Porter @rachelporter.bsky.social · 14d

I haven't spent a ton of time working through this, but it draws heavily on national party insights to make recommendations for Dem candidates... who are already doing these things?

Over three-quarters of Ds discuss economics, healthcare etc....

campaignview.org
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Julia Raifman, ScD @juliaraifman.bsky.social · 14d

Did you know?

About 4.5 million SNAP recipients are babies and toddlers under age 5.

About 11.1 million SNAP recipients are kids aged 5 to 17 years, who need food for healthy growth, learning, & development.

The federal government has the capacity to continue funding SNAP during a shutdown.

11.1% of SNAP recipients are kids under age 5, 27.7% kids 5-17, 41.6% adults 18-59, 19.5% adults aged 60 & older

https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1124/snapparticipantage.xlsx

Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law @jhppl.bsky.social · 18d

We at JHPPL are now 50! (So much for getting to stay 49 again...) Our former editor @oberlanderunc.bsky.social & new editor @sarahgollust.bsky.social trace our interdisciplinary origins & the many health politics/policy/law challenges we've faced the last 50 yrs. read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

Sarah Gollust @sarahgollust.bsky.social · 18d

Happy birthday @jhppl.bsky.social! 🎉Our special issue celebrating 50 years of JHPPL and the past and future of health politics and policy just dropped. Start with our opening essay w/ @oberlanderunc.bsky.social and follow along for more. read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

Cover of JHPPL special issue "JHPPL at 50"

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 26d

50% of American adults are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life. Just 10% are more excited than concerned.
🧪

Chart showing concerns about AI are especially common in the United States, Italy, Australia, Brazil and Greece, where about half of adults say they are more concerned than excited. But as few as 16% in South Korea are mainly concerned about the prospect of AI in their lives.

Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 27d

Relevant for #wesgov372 #wesgov366 and #wesgov380

Pat Hastings @ophastings.bsky.social · Oct 10

The GSS asked the same people about their childhood income rank three different times. 56% changed their answer, even though what was trying to be measured couldn’t change! We dig into this in a new article at @socialindicators.bsky.social.   

doi.org/10.1007/s112...

🧵👇 (1/5)

Growing up Different(ly than Last Time We Asked): Social Status and Changing Reports of Childhood Income Rank - Social Indicators Research

How we remember our past can be shaped by the realities of our present. This study examines how changes to present circumstances influence retrospective reports of family income rank at age 16. While retrospective survey data can be used to assess the long-term effects of childhood conditions, present-day circumstances may “anchor” memories, causing shifts in how individuals recall and report past experiences. Using panel data from the 2006–2014 General Social Surveys (8,602 observations from 2,883 individuals in the United States), we analyze how changes in objective and subjective indicators of current social status—income, financial satisfaction, and perceived income relative to others—are associated with changes in reports of childhood income rank, and how this varies by sex and race/ethnicity. Fixed-effects models reveal no significant association between changes in income and in childhood income rank. However, changes in subjective measures of social status show contrasting effects, as increases in current financial satisfaction are associated with decreases in childhood income rank, but increases in current perceived relative income are associated with increases in childhood income rank. We argue these opposing effects follow from theories of anchoring in recall bias. We further find these effects are stronger among males but are consistent across racial/ethnic groups. This demographic heterogeneity suggests that recall bias is not evenly distributed across the population and has important implications for how different groups perceive their own pasts. Our findings further highlight the malleability of retrospective perceptions and their sensitivity to current social conditions, offering methodological insights into survey reliability and recall bias.

doi.org

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · Oct 11

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

Pat Hastings @ophastings.bsky.social · Oct 10

The GSS asked the same people about their childhood income rank three different times. 56% changed their answer, even though what was trying to be measured couldn’t change! We dig into this in a new article at @socialindicators.bsky.social.   

doi.org/10.1007/s112...

🧵👇 (1/5)

Growing up Different(ly than Last Time We Asked): Social Status and Changing Reports of Childhood Income Rank - Social Indicators Research

How we remember our past can be shaped by the realities of our present. This study examines how changes to present circumstances influence retrospective reports of family income rank at age 16. While retrospective survey data can be used to assess the long-term effects of childhood conditions, present-day circumstances may “anchor” memories, causing shifts in how individuals recall and report past experiences. Using panel data from the 2006–2014 General Social Surveys (8,602 observations from 2,883 individuals in the United States), we analyze how changes in objective and subjective indicators of current social status—income, financial satisfaction, and perceived income relative to others—are associated with changes in reports of childhood income rank, and how this varies by sex and race/ethnicity. Fixed-effects models reveal no significant association between changes in income and in childhood income rank. However, changes in subjective measures of social status show contrasting effects, as increases in current financial satisfaction are associated with decreases in childhood income rank, but increases in current perceived relative income are associated with increases in childhood income rank. We argue these opposing effects follow from theories of anchoring in recall bias. We further find these effects are stronger among males but are consistent across racial/ethnic groups. This demographic heterogeneity suggests that recall bias is not evenly distributed across the population and has important implications for how different groups perceive their own pasts. Our findings further highlight the malleability of retrospective perceptions and their sensitivity to current social conditions, offering methodological insights into survey reliability and recall bias.

doi.org

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · Oct 1

The new EU rules on political advertising online take effect October 10.

Google and Meta (FB, Insta) will stop political ads on their platforms 🛑

But when??? FB is now very explicit about when it takes effect: October 6

www.facebook.com/business/hel...

Tony Clark @informative.ink · Sep 30

If you've done in-person research at any of the following presidential libraries in the last 8 months, can you please follow me/contact me—soon—for a story I'm working on (can be off the record)?

Hoover
FDR
Truman
Eisenhower
JFK
LBJ
Ford
Carter

And either way, can you please share this request? 🙏

Larry Levitt @larrylevitt.bsky.social · Sep 30

New, and a big deal: Based on updated data and changes made by the Trump administration, we now estimate that ACA enrollees would see their out-of-pocket premiums increase by 114% if enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire.
www.kff.org/affordable-c...

ACA Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Next Year if Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire | KFF

KFF estimates that, if Congress allows the enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of this year, ACA Marketplace enrollees on average would see their premium payments more than double next y...

www.kff.org

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Sep 26

New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

Dominique Heinke, ScD @epidnique.bsky.social · Sep 23

In news that the HHS should be shouting from the rooftops:

Availability of the RSV vaccine for pregnant people and RSV shots for infants lead to a 50% reduction in RSV-associated hospitalization of newborns during the last year! 🥳

Spread the good word, folks!
#Episky

Interim Evaluation of Respiratory Syncytial ...

This report describes RSV-associated hospitalization rates among infants and young children during the 2024–25 respiratory virus season.

www.cdc.gov

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Sep 16

These estimates of public support for violence (from www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/o...) are inflated - *much* higher than what we and others have found using question wording that reduces acquiescence bias: brightlinewatch.org/accelerated-... The vast majority of Americans reject political violence.

Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · Sep 14

Pertinent to #wesgov214 #wesgov372

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · Sep 14

How do Americans typically react when they hit a paywall on a news site?
1% pay
11% try to get the article for free
32% give up
53% look for info elsewhere

A Pew Research Center survey also asked anyone who said they ever come across paywalls what they typically do first when that happens.

Just 1% say they pay for access when they come across an article that requires payment.

The most common reaction is that people seek the information somewhere else (53%). About a third (32%) say they typically give up on accessing the information.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · Sep 14

How do Americans typically react when they hit a paywall on a news site?
1% pay
11% try to get the article for free
32% give up
53% look for info elsewhere

Daniel Thiele @thieled.bsky.social · Sep 13

Are you an R-user looking for a ✨reproducible and free✨ solution to use #machine-translation in your #text-as-data project? Try out my new #rstats package #easieRnmt that wraps around the EasyNMT py-library for local machine tranlsation: github.com/thieled/easi...

GitHub - thieled/easieRnmt: R wrapper around the EasyNMT python library, providing "Easy to use, state-of-the-art Neural Machine Translation for 100+ languages" locally.

R wrapper around the EasyNMT python library, providing "Easy to use, state-of-the-art Neural Machine Translation for 100+ languages" locally. - thieled/easieRnmt

github.com

Collaborative on Media & Messaging for Health and Social Policy @commhsp.bsky.social · Sep 12

What can the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine PSAs teach us about public health communication? In our newest COMM blog post, first author Margaret Tait breaks down her recently published research on the critical messaging missteps in federally-sponsored PSAs.

Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · Sep 11

Some evidence pertinent to our #wesgov372 discussion today.

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · Sep 11

Hi, yes, this is a very good question.

Does anyone have an answer?

Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · Sep 11

A stat I wonder about a lot: what % of Americans have been present for a shooting?

I mean I have. All those college kids in Utah have now. Everyone in Butler was. All the kids who have been there for school shootings.

So: how many?

Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · Sep 11

Hi, yes, this is a very good question.

Does anyone have an answer?

Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · Sep 11

A stat I wonder about a lot: what % of Americans have been present for a shooting?

I mean I have. All those college kids in Utah have now. Everyone in Butler was. All the kids who have been there for school shootings.

So: how many?

Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · Sep 11

Research: Believing that the mass public in the opposing party supports undemocratic tactics leads people to be more supportive of undemocratic tactics themselves. Being assured that a majority of your opponents oppose such radical tactics increases support for democratic norms osf.io/my987/download

osf.io

Gary Schwitzer @garyschw.bsky.social · Sep 10

If you didn't see Marion Nestle analyze the MAHA children's health strategy report on PBS NewsHour last night, I urge you to watch at this link: open.substack.com/pub/garyschw...

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