HeyJaredThis Week in Social Science
We summarize two social science articles each week, saying what the researchers did, what they found, and why it matters.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 12
- Latest publication
- Sep 25, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 10, 2026
Latest issues
TWISS #77: Free Will and the Limits of Science (opens the original)
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Welcome to This Week in Social Science, where we want to know whether you made a conscious and deliberate decision to read (or listen to) this today.One definition of social science is that it is the study of the human experience, and, as such, few questions could be more fundamental than whether we have free will: whether our conscious decisions actually determine what we do. This week, we look at a landmark experiment that was interpreted as a challenge to free will, and at a new study attempt
TWISS #76: The Real Lives of Synthetic People (opens the original)
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Welcome to This Week in Social Science. Businesses and researchers are increasingly turning to AI to simulate public opinion. “Synthetic” or “Silicon” samples prompt LLMs to respond to surveys as-if they were real people. Today we will look at research assessing the accuracy and usefulness of such synthetic data.Previously on TWISS: Can we predict the future?<a class="button primary" href="https://twissweekly.substack.co
TWISS #75: Rituals and Grief (opens the original)
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“In this world,” wrote Benjamin Franklin, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”.Welcome to This Week in Social Science, where we look into the social science of rituals and grief.Grief and loss have been central concerns for religious figures and philosophers for thousands of years. Many Greek philosophical traditions were formulated around preventing the sadness that comes from loss, and many of them recommend limiting the strong feelings that can later lead to grief. Simi
TWISS #74: Affluence and Influence? (opens the original)
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Welcome to This Week in Social Science. It is easy to be cynical these days, to believe that we the people don’t matter, that politicians serve only the rich and our preferences are irrelevant to political decisions. And for years, research supported that position. However, a new paper out this year argues that this conclusion was incorrect, the result of a faulty methodological decision.Today we will look at the original research, the recent refutation, and my thoughts.1<p cl
TWISS #73: Genetics and Ethnic Identity (opens the original)
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Welcome to This Week in Social Science! We are social creatures, motivated to find positive social identities that make us feel both special and supported. These identities often include small groups like our immediate families, and also large groups like ethnicities. Here, we take a closer look at these ethnic identities.1What does it take to identify with an ethnic group? From one perspective, identity is an individual right. No other person or community is empowered to deny the identity you
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