Research Projects
The Demography faculty and affiliated researchers are engaged in a number of larger research projects, many of which offer opportunities for graduate student research assistantships and collaboration.
BICS (PIs: Dennis Feehan and Ayesha Mahmud)
The Berkeley Interpersonal Contact Survey (BICS) project uses detailed survey data on human behavior to study the implications of heterogeneities in health-related behavior (such as use of face masks, physical distancing, vaccination, etc.) on the dynamics of respiratory infectious diseases.
CADAS (PIs: William H. Dow, Daisy Acosta, and Ivonne Z. Jiménez-Velázquez)
The CADAS project – Dementia Determinants in Caribbean and U.S. Hispanics – studies racial/ethnic disparities in dementia, focusing on Caribbean and U.S. Hispanic populations. Our international collaborative team is collecting and analyzing data on U.S. immigrant populations as well as those in sending communities in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. These data enable comprehensive analysis of the relationship of dementia with life course socioeconomic determinants across highly varied contexts, as well as the resulting formal and informal care costs in different societal contexts. Funded by R01AG064778.
CenSoc (PIs: Joshua Goldstein, Ayesha Mahmud, Jason Fletcher, Michelle Poulin, and Dennis Feehan)
So named because it links 1940 Census data with Social Security Administration death records – CenSoc is a new, large-scale, public microdata data set to be used for advancing understanding of mortality disparities in the United States. Funded by R01AG058940.
Climate Change, Demography, and the Dynamics of Infectious Disease (PI: Ayesha Mahmud)
The project examines how large-scale demographic and climatic changes, such as rapid urbanization and warming climates, are altering the landscape of infectious disease ecology.
CRELES (PIs: William H. Dow, Luis Rosero-Bixby, and Gilbert Brenes)
CRELES – The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable) – is a set of nationally representative longitudinal surveys of health and life course experiences of older Costa Ricans.
Mexico-U.S. Migration, 1910-2020 (PI: Jenna Nobles)
We study (a) the history of Mexico-U.S. migration flows and (b) the origins of Mexican American socioeconomic mobility by combining U.S. border crossing manifests individually linked to U.S. and Mexican censuses during the first half of the 20th century with recent survey and Census data.
Human Mortality Database (PIs: Magali Barbieri and Dmitri Jdannov)
Created to provide detailed mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity. Funded by CEDA and other agencies and organizations.
The Kenya Life Panel Study (PI: Edward Miguel)
The Kenya Life Panel Study (KLPS) comprises a series of evaluations exploring the health, educational, and economic impacts of mass school-based deworming interventions in rural Kenya.
National Transfer Accounts (PIs: Ronald Lee and Andrew Mason)
Related to CEDA’s thematic focus on the demographic and fiscal consequences of global aging. Funded by CEDA and other agencies and organizations.
Novel Methods for Estimating Adult Mortality Using a Survey (PIs: Dennis Feehan and Michelle Poulin)
Survey methods for estimating adult mortality are critical in populations that lack complete death registration (including most of Africa and Asia), but current methods require large samples and rely on largely untested assumptions. The NIH-funded research project will produce tools that can improve measurement of adult mortality, and so improve science and policy around the world.
PPLO (PIs: William H. Dow and Julia M. Goodman)
PPLO – Evaluating the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance is a project that examines the effects of The Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO), the most far-reaching local paid parental leave law in the United States.
Prenatal Demography: Fecundity in the U.S. (PI: Jenna Nobles)
We study population variation in conception failure and pregnancy loss – and their combined effects on (a) fertility and (b) birth cohort composition – using new forms of digital and administrative data.
United States Mortality Database (PIs: Magali Barbieri and John Wilmoth)
USMDB is the first clearly documented historical set of complete state-level life tables, updated to the latest year of available data, designed to foster research on geographic variations in mortality across the United States and to monitor trends in health inequalities. This data set currently includes complete and abridged life tables by sex for each of the US 9 Census Divisions, 4 Census Regions, 50 States and the District of Columbia, for each year since 1959 with mortality values up to age 110. The data are available for free to all interested upon registration.