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CSED
Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy

In the News

2022

2021

Juggling parenting, work and a pandemic is not getting easier | Deseret News

January 28, 2021 — Using data from The American Family Survey, this article explores the different impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has on parenting and familial relationships in general.

"The 2020 American Family Survey found that relationship status was the primary predictor of whether someone is lonely. “On the whole, family relationships appear to provide resources and support for navigating the coronavirus, not cause for emotional stress and difficulty,” the survey report said."

What happens when domestic duties shift? These couples found out | The Guam Daily Post

June 11, 2021 — This article uses data from CSED's American Family Survey to discuss various martial and relational changes and challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In September 2020, the annual American Family Survey, a joint effort by the Deseret News and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, found that married people reported largely positive views of their own marriages, with 43% saying their relationships had grown stronger during the pandemic. Another 48% said they were 'about the same.'"

2020

Like Sheep to the Slaughter: How American Individualism Has Prevented an Effective COVID-19 Response | The Yale Politic

August 2, 2020 — Ethan Meldrum, a research assistant on the effects of moral individualism on behavior during COVID-19 at CSED, shared his perspective on the power of individualism within the scope of COVID-19.

"It's difficult to see exactly how [the pandemic] is going to end with the American ideal of individualism...If America continues on its path of individualism, the virus is only going to get worse—which is what we're seeing right now."

Parents don't want their kids to become politicians, upcoming American Family Survey finds | Deseret News

September 10, 2020 — The American Family Survey found that 90 percent of parents do not want their children to become politicians. Jeremy Pope, the co-director of this project, shared some interesting insight into this finding.

"I think the reason to care about this question is not actually to get the answer to what parents want their kids to be when they grow up. It’s more an indicator of how people feel about politics right now. Is it an honorable area? Is it a poor life choice?”

Why loneliness fuels populism | Financial Times

September 24, 2020 — The American Family Survey found that in 2016 those who voted for Donald Trump tended to be more lonely than those who voted for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. This finding was was to analyze the impact on loneliness in the political climate in this article.

"Across the Atlantic, a 2016 poll by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy revealed Donald Trump voters to be significantly more likely to report having fewer close friends, fewer acquaintances and to spend fewer hours a week with both than supporters of either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders."

2019

How The 116th Congress Can Teach Female CEOs To Reject The Likability Myth | Forbes

January 9, 2019 — Drs. Jessica Preece, Quin Monson, and Chris Karpowitz’s study of Utah Republicans yielded interesting insights into how gender plays a role in local politics.

“Dr. Jessica Robinson Preece is a researcher at Brigham Young University. Her researche with Dr. Christopher Karpowitz and Dr. J. Quin Monson found that simple interventions by party leaders could significantly boost women being recruited and elected to leadership positions. 'Voters respond to the cues that leaders send about whether having Republican women in office is a priority,' Preece said.”

2018

Religion declining in importance for many Americans, especially Millennials | Religion News Service

December 10, 2018 — The American Family Survey has reported that more people are identifying as having no religious affiliation in comparison to past years. The changes are especially apparent among Millenials and GenXers.

“‘Though the change from year to year is small, there is a clear upward trend,’ says Chris Karpowitz, professor of political science at BYU and co-director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.”

Cost of raising children a major obstacle for US families, study finds | Catholic News Agency

December 4, 2018 — American families are finding it harder to afford having children, the American Family Survey found. Families with children are more likely to have financial crises in comparison to those who do not have children at home.

“Of those who have children at home, 73 percent say they worry about being able to pay at least one monthly bill, and 44 percent have faced an economic crisis in the last year – being unable to pay an important bill or going without food, medical care or housing due to financial difficulty.”

Sexual harassment in workplace is seen quite differently by men, women | Crain’s Cleveland Business

December 3, 2018 — The American Family Survey reported that men and women have very different interpretations of sexual harassment in the work place. Women tend to be significantly more weary than men of certain behaviors at the workplace.

“One of the biggest gaps was in experience: 28% of men said they’ve had an inappropriate experience, compared to almost six in 10 women, with women more likely to say that incidents occurred in the workplace, the report said.”