Social Sciences

A new UC Berkeley study has uncovered a possible solution to reduce low voter turnout among people who dislike their choices on the ballot by changing the way voting decisions are framed. The research shows that encouraging voters to vote against the worst options, rather than voting for the best one, could significantly reduce the number of people opting not to vote, especially in elections between unpopular candidates.

Berkeley Psychology Professor Amitai Shenhav and Psychology researcher Yi-Hsin Su explored the issue of "double haters" —...

Raised in farming communities, Adriana P. Ramírez is keenly aware of the challenges migrants face on a daily basis and the struggles they encounter with the U.S. immigration system. The UC Berkeley Sociology graduate student, who is a Berkeley Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (ISSI) Fellow, wants to raise the visibility of these challenges and help find solutions to obstacles migrants face when they return to Mexico.

As part of her fellowship, Ramírez is conducting research to examine social change and inequality and how it impacts various communities, including young...

During the 2020 vice presidential debate, then-Sen. Kamala Harris took the floor back from an interrupting Vice President Mike Pence with two words that soon became a slogan: “I’m speaking.”

When Harris speaks, there’s one person who is listening very intently: Nicole Holliday, acting associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley.

“Linguistics is the scientific study of language,” explains Holliday in this...

It may not seem like UC Berkeley Social Sciences alumna Sandra Lo's Ethnic Studies degree directly relates to her 25-year career in tech. But she says much of the knowledge, communication skills and ability to think critically she gained in this field at Berkeley Social Sciences have been essential to her success in the tech industry.

Lo graduated from Cal in 1997, and went on to receive her masters in communications management from the Annenberg School at USC. She is now the chief communications officer at Zoho Corporation, a Silicon Valley tech company that creates software suites...