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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 29/09/2026

"Replication crisis" reforms like preregistration & pre-analysis plans were developed to control false positives in experimental research. Does that work in observational studies? Our new paper in Sociological Methods & Research argues for a different approach. 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A Replication Framework for Observational Research: From Specification Restriction to Specification Expansion
Jonathan Ben-Menachem https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8092-0848 jbenmenachem@gmail.com, Ari Galper https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7909-8837, and Nic Fishman
Abstract
Sociology has remained relatively insulated from debates about the “replication crisis.” Heeding calls to consider replication more deeply, we introduce a distinction between two types of research reforms that have emerged in the wake of the crisis: specification-restricting and specification-expanding reforms. Specification restriction is often promoted as a way to increase the repeatability of research findings by controlling false positives. We argue that this statistical justification is less compelling in observational contexts—where the assumptions licensing false-positive control are harder to sustain and rigid ex ante analytical commitments can instead enshrine fragile specifications—than in experimental contexts. We further argue that apparently low replication rates do not necessarily imply a high prevalence of false positive findings. Instead, we propose a replication framework centered on specification-expanding reforms, stronger incentives for confirmatory research, and meta-analysis. This approach equips sociologists to assess the repeatability of findings and build a more cumulative discipline.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm excited to share my recent research on queer migrants with @demo-udem.bsky.social on Monday! Link below to join virtually. My presentation will be in English.

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 08/09/2026

Two extraordinary charts from today’s PISA test results: 1) School test scores continue to collapse internationally, underscoring how this is no longer a Covid effect but sustained decline. Those falls in reading and maths are equivalent to about two years of lost schooling.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

My paper "Double robust, flexible adjustment methods for causal inference: An overview and an evaluation" is out in Social Science Research. Spoiler: In simulations, double robustness appears less important than flexibility, and OLS does pretty well! 🧵👇 1/7 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My department is hiring! "The Department of Sociology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Sociology of Health, commencing in Fall 2027." apply.interfolio.com/192144

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Sasha Gusev has a great new blog post on faculty hiring during the DEI era. Remarkable how much backlash there has been to what was an tiny and temporary bump in hiring Black, Latino, and Native faculty of about 1 person per R1 campus theinfinitesimal.substack.com/p/what-actua...

Demographics of R1 university faculty, 2001-2024
84.5% 80%
White 69.8%
60
40
20
8.9%
3.4%
2.9%
0.3%
2001
'05
'10
'15
'20
— Asian/PI 17.1%
lispanic 6.4%
Black 4.8%
'24 Other 1.9%

Hiring counts for tenure-track positions at R1 universities
4,000 hires
3,797
• Non-URM 3,753
3,000
2,000
2,254
1,000
623
623
298
→ URM 788
Black 348
2018
2019
2020
322
2021
2022
2023
2024

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

The perpetual license Stata 15 I bought at a student rate in 2017 is finally refusing to open on my iOS Tahoe MacBook Pro. I almost never use Stata, and the "subscription" model they use now seems like a rip-off... I might be breaking out my old MacBook when I need to run some Stata code.

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Tuhin Chakrabarty @tuhinchakr.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Ran some 🧪 to 🔬 why the Granta short story was certainly 🤖 generated. A lot of bad writing happens because AI hasn’t learned aesthetics. It has simply memorized the whole internet and called it a day. So sure, maybe you don't trust AI detectors. But you can trust your own eyes. #AISlop

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Tuhin Chakrabarty @tuhinchakr.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

🚨Paper on AI & Copyright Courts have credited AI companies' claims that alignment prevents reproducing copyrighted data. What if finetuning on a simple writing task breaks it. Worse: tuning on just one author (e.g., Murakami) unlocks verbatim recall of 30+ other authors' books (up to 90%) (1/n)🧵

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Public Opinion Quarterly - POQ @poqjournal.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

How do Americans view the increase in lesbian and gay migrants? Hoffman & Velasco find that Americans overall give no preference to lesbian and gay migrants; however, Democrats, atheists, and lesbian and gay Americans find them more deserving. Read now: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

A new paper with @kvelasco.bsky.social is now online at @poqjournal.bsky.social! Using a conjoint survey experiment with 1,650 U.S. citizens, we ask, how do Americans take sexual orientation into account when evaluating immigrants' deservingness for admission? academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I have my first lecture for my Sociology of Immigration class tomorrow, and I'm sharing my family's migration story. My dad scrounged up alien registration cards for Johann George Angerer and Kunigunda Seitz, my grandma’s grandparents, who migrated from a small German town near Nuremberg in 1854!

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Annoyed by long lines and throngs of tourists, a friend in New York feels like everyone in the U.S. wants to move there. I found this 2023 @today.yougov.com poll on major American cities, showing that only 9% of Americans think that New York is safe! Other aspects are not rated much better.

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 09/12/2025

Big new blogpost! My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more. --> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

With the semester finishing, I wanted to give an update about building this intro statistics course for PhD students in sociology. Thanks to everyone who gave advice! I ended up having a blast teaching it, and students seemed to like it. Here's the syllabus: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

Soc 500 Syllabus F25

SOCIOLOGY 500 Research Methods and Models: Statistics Fall 2025, Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-2:15 pm Location: Tarbutton Hall Room 206 Instructor: Nathan Hoffmann Email: nihoffm@emory.edu Office: Tarbut...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Today was the most exciting day of my life: An in-person enumerator from the Census Bureau stopped by to interview me for the Current Population Survey! I can't wait to tell my students that I'm contributing to the data we use for statistics exercises.

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

Sasha Killewald @sashakillewald.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

I'm facilitating a causal inference reading group next semester for Sociology PhD students. (I will also be learning!) If there are (1) pedagogical articles or (2) empirical examples in soc that you ❤️, will you share in the comments? [And please RT to help me crowd-source!]

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

I'm trying to find some sociology papers to bring into my intro statistics course for grad students. Straightforward quant analyses where the data are publicly available. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Reposted by Nathan Hoffmann

American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

ASA’s new journal, Sex & Sexualities @sexandsexualities.bsky.social‬, fosters space for rigorous intersectional, interdisciplinary, transnational, feminist, and critical research. Now accepting cutting-edge sociological research! Find out more about the journal here: bit.ly/4lGzp8k.

bit.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

PhDone! I was honored to have Professor Andres Villarreal hooding me yesterday.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

This fall I'm teaching an introductory statistics class for graduate students in sociology, and I'm looking for a textbook. The course covers probability, sampling, and basic data analysis, barely touching on regression. Does anyone have a textbook they like? I'd love one with R examples.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I am thrilled to share that I will be joining the Department of Sociology at Emory University this fall as an Assistant Professor! Excited for a new chapter in Atlanta 🔥🍑

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 16/06/2024

I'm honored that my paper on double robust methods has received the ASA Methods Clifford Clogg Award for Best Graduate Student Paper! I deeply appreciate the committee's recognition, and I couldn't have done this without the support of Chad Hazlett, @jenniebrand.bsky.social, and Onyi Arah.

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 01/02/2024

I just registered for #PAA2024! For students registering, be sure to change your "Primary Field of Employment" to "Student" (in "Personal Details" of the conference site) in order to access the $99 student rate. @popassocamerica.bsky.social www.populationassociation.org/paa2024/reg-...

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Nathan Hoffmann @nathanihoff.bsky.social · 29/01/2024

We're in print at Social Forces! @kvelasco.bsky.social and I show that the end of the Defense of Marriage Act ushered in a rapid increase in LGB immigrant couples, but only for those from countries with progressive LGB policies. academic.oup.com/sf/article-a...

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