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David Bartram

@dbartram.bsky.social
1.2K followers 767 following 527 posts

Sociologist. Interests: inequalities, happiness, migration, & causal identification. Editor-in-chief of @socialindicators.bsky.social. PhD UW-Madison. AI-free teaching & research since 1998. Posts are personal. davidvbartram.wordpress.com

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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This article (recycled today?) put a flawed research finding in the popular domain. It noted dissent from Easterlin & Ryff but countered w/ a nonsensical dismissal. The "u-shape" is no longer a consensus view, not least because it is far from a universal pattern: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
To Evaluate the Age–Happiness Relationship, Look Beyond Statistical Significance - Journal of Happiness Studies
The persistent contentiousness of research on the age–happiness relationship is puzzling; it should be possible to gain clarity and consensus about how to address the question effectively. In this pap...
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
TFW a manuscript cites me, an article with a title not even close to anything I've ever written. Sometimes they make it easy for me...
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Dr Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Same at UCU congress. Reason, evidence, and a lack of good faith engagement is a feature, and not a bug, of British trotskyism and various other authoritarian left sects.
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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 05/10/2026
European Greens not fucking around here: this is a very strong statement.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Sounds like my local UCU branch.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
MIGHT?? So she might *stay* a member??? Wild...
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Not to mention that many of the push factors have roots in what destination countries did (and still do). "We are here because you were there."
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
passing the "zionism is racism" motion on the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street is a bit on the fucking nose isn't it
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The problem with this entire “talking across difference” approach to politics is that it assumes a shared consensus about democracy that no longer exists b/w the 2 main 🇺🇸 political parties. You don’t need to have lunch with people who don’t believe in free elections, equal rights, & the rule of law.
Przeworski, Democracy and the marketDemocracy is a system in which parties lose elections
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International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) @isqols.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🏆 Congratulations to Kelsey O’Connor & Martijn Hendriks, joint recipients of the 2025–2026 ISQOLS Ruut Veenhoven Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to happiness studies! 🎥 youtu.be/83haygo9Iik 🔗 isqols.org/Ruut-Veenhov...
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yes, I agree, I'll do that -- though I figure I can't do it with 75% of the requested changes (what I'd really want). Better path: reviewer writes to editor, "I know I agreed to review this but in the end I don't think I'm the right person for it." Reminder to self: it was all done in good faith.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Reviewer 2, who acknowledges "not being an expert" in regard to my paper, is currently wreaking havoc and will compel numerous distortions. As an editor I understand how time-consuming it would be to intervene and facilitate a more reasonable approach. Even so: FFS...
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"a Catholic vision" apparently includes regular use of ChatGPT
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Tom Ellison @123tomellison.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Imagine the vibes in the student newspaper bullpen during these email exchanges. Delectable.
A screenshot of a Dartmouth student newspaper article that says:

In an email statement to The Dartmouth on Sept. 18, Schnell wrote that he uses artificial intelligence for “language refinement, copyediting, improving clarity and organization and making writing processes more efficient,” but “review[s] the final text and take[s] responsibility for its content.”

“I develop ideas and arguments, conduct the research, evaluate the evidence and sources, determine the structure, prepare drafts and decide what appears in the final text,” Schnell wrote. “I regard these technologies as assistive tools. They do not identify the problem, design the research project, guarantee the validity of research results, interpretations, citations, conclusions or substitute for my research, intellectual judgment or authorship.”

Schnell’s Sept. 18 email statement to The Dartmouth was itself “100% AI-written,” according to a Pangram test.

In a follow-up statement about the composition of the email, Schnell wrote that he “developed the substance and wrote a draft” of the email, then “used an Al tool to assist with language and clarity, taking on several suggestions (including reworded sentences), before reading it through, making minor changes and sending it to you with my signature.”
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The provost at Dartmouth: "The newspaper then ran Dr. Schnell’s statement on his A.I. use through an A.I. detector, which flagged the statement itself as apparently written by A.I." The PROVOST... www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u...
nytimes.com
Dartmouth Provost Is the Latest College Professor Examined for A.I. Use (Gift Article)
Dartmouth said it would investigate its provost over A.I. accusations. Similar controversies on other campuses have prompted frustration among students.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Check it for AI? (Pangram...)
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The fact that the Fairford suspects are all British Nationals proves nothing. I’m a British National and look at the damage I’ve already caused to the UK.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
FAFO latest (#Sociology version): -- FA: write a report intended to inflict reputational damage on your own discipline* -- FO: learn from esteemed colleagues that your own reputation is in tatters I can't imagine ever going to campus again... *yes, it isn't even her discipline, by some measures
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It's all kicking off on the family wordle group today...
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Alex Patzina @patzinaalex.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
New paper with @mcollischon.bsky.social & @alinaschmitz.bsky.social ! Does upward educational mobility improve life satisfaction? And do its benefits change as people age? We use 39 waves of German panel data to study mobility patterns across the life course. Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ss... 🧵1/4
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
omg -- these people must think that AI is actually "intelligence". How embarrassing (for them)...
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
So, the default decision is: desk-rejection, no external review (unless there's sufficient basis to decide otherwise -- rare.) General position: it's hard enough to get reviewers already, and we can't let AI slop grind the gears to a complete halt.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This passage underpins my approach to AI-generated manuscripts submitted to @socialindicators.bsky.social. If the text is obviously AI, why would I have confidence that there is underlying research that *isn't* AI? Do the "authors" even know what they have written? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/o...
Many scientific fields are already drowning in plausible-seeming but unverified papers generated with significant help from a large language model. What’s slop and what’s not? Is there an actual gem amid the gazillion new hypotheses? It’s becoming increasingly impossible to tell.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Former Labour deputy leader joins Oswald Mosley's grandson at Palantir.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Great idea. Time-consuming, though. What I take from this thread is mainly that my instincts on desk-rejections are very likely not wrong.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ah -- I see: enable only the paid accounts (not us plebes*) to circulate news items. It tilts the content people will see. *not that I'm one of them -- at this point I wouldn't use Facebook even if they paid me.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Guys, they want us to go home.” 🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Everyone knows AI-written academic papers are embarrassing now, including their "authors", which is why even the publishers - who stand to benefit most from AI-amplified publication volumes - are now offering "Affordable human expert editing for AI-drafted or AI-edited manuscripts" 🤯
Screenshot of T&F editing services, reading:

Editing for AI-Assisted Manuscripts
NEW
Affordable human expert editing for AI-drafted or AI-edited manuscripts.

Starting at $0.031/ word
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Is @labouruk.bsky.social going to tell billionaire donors to ReformUK to fuck off out of British politics? Probably not. Would require actual vision and courage. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Christopher Harborne matches £36m Reform donation of Ben Delo
Party leader, Nigel Farage, says he is humbled by the contributions from cryptocurrency billionaires
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Enough Of That Now @andygilder.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Trump becomes the first orange man to support a united Ireland
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
In these terms, yes -- for those who see "migrant" as stigmatized, I doubt it would be any different for immigrant.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
As an immigrant myself (and also a migration scholar), I prefer to refer to myself as an immigrant. The word needs to be destigmatized. Similar to the way "queer" was reclaimed.
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 02/10/2024
This turn-of-the-century Rosh HaShanah card goes hard. The Old Year struggles in the water while the New Year stands on the shore, and a Yiddish inscription urging the old year to "drown forever already"
The Old Year, portrayed as an old man, drowns while the fresh-faced New Year stands on the shore, along with a melodramatic Yiddish inscription:
Drown, old year! Go by!
With your pain and woe,
Drown, drown forever already,
In the abyss of time!
A new year comes now
With new happiness and joy!
And the world will be freed
From grief and sorrow.
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Speaking as somebody who spent this entire century watching his mum die in pain and humiliation, this decision is a big fat load of shite. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
MPs vote against legalising assisted dying in England and Wales
Bill fails at second reading despite near-identical legislation being approved by Commons in last parliament
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Who radicalized him, and where is Prevent when really needed?
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
That’s more like it… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Senior UK rabbis come out in support of sanctions on Israeli settlements
Spiritual leaders stress diversity of views within Jewish community and warn against inaction on settler violence
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Listening to Ed Miliband is an unfamiliar experience: a UK politician speaking with courage, directness, a sense of history, eloquence (mostly), and conviction rooted in the right values. Why can't we have more of this?
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Lauren Starkey @laurenhstarkey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Men will send me emails like this and then go rampaging on the streets of Dover and Portsmouth claiming they want to keep refugees out in order to “PROTECT OUR WOMEN!” Not a single one of the young male refugees I’ve worked with has ever spoken to me with such violent misogyny.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Hmm -- these German "nationalists": do they perhaps also embrace a certain form of "socialism"?? Hard to avoid the impression that some WashingtonPost journalists don't know what "Nazi" means, what it referred to... www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
washingtonpost.com
German nationalists’ big win sounds alarm for mainstream politicians in Europe
“This has shaken us,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said after Ulrich Siegmund led his Alternative for Germany party to victory in Saxony-Anhalt.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The AfD and Reform immigration policies are almost identical. There is no plausible reason for considering one far right and the other not.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
? re #rstats: Can R sample from a dataframe in a way that mimics convenience sampling? The 'sample' function is by definition random. Plus, the general idea of 'convenience sampling' is essentially undefined; it is defined only by contrast, i.e., what it is *not*. Even so: is there another way?
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A government interested in preserving democracy would have its tax authorities looking into the bank accounts of these assholes. "Unexplained wealth orders" -- tailor-made for situations of this sort. Follow the money...
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Has anyone ever asked Ariely which of his publications should NOT be retracted? @datacolada.bsky.social
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Coordination problem -- yes. What matters isn't only whether an idea/solution (B) is good. What matters (more?) is how to get from A to B, given that almost everyone is currently doing A. A clear vision for *collective* transition would be highly desirable.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is in fact what I spend the majority of my time doing, as EiC. I don't especially enjoy it, but looking at it the other way around, I'm determining what *will* get reviewed. (The co-editors than manage reviews.) Not sure why I would have someone else do this.
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Weeping...
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HOPE not hate @hopenothate.org.uk · 31/08/2026
Reform politicians need an urgent intervention. They have become tragically addicted to ChatGPT. Their habit has become a problem, and here are some of the worst examples…
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David Bartram @dbartram.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Four reviews? Maybe 14?? cmon...
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