On this episode of the "Research in Action" podcast, I’m joined by Lena Etuk, a Social Demographer at the Oregon State University Extension Service. Lena has a Masters of Science in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a specialty in social stratification and demography. Since joining the OSU Extension Service, she has worked to increase Oregonians’ access to social scientific information that can help them and their communities realize positive change. She works with community members, non-profits, government, public agencies, and Extension Service faculty to create, recognize, and capitalize on opportunities for data-driven decision making.
Segment 1: What is social demography? [00:00-9:55]
In this first segment, Lena defines demography and social demography and offers some examples of the issues that social demographers are concerned with that effect population change. Lena also describes the work of applied social demography.
Segment 2: Applications of social demography [9:56-20:25]
In segment two, Lena describes some of the skills and methods of social demographers and how social demographers specialize.
Segment 3: Fostering a culture of data-driven decision making [20:26-30:51]
In segment three, Lena and I discuss definitions of data and whether anecdote can be considered as data.
Bonus Clip: Pathways to Becoming a Social Demographer [00:00-2:49]
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Research in Action is produced by the Oregon State University Ecampus multimedia team.