Mary Spiro

Credit: Gustavo Fring from Pexels Money, social networks and access to information are resources that are frequently available to privileged groups or classes in society, helping them weather tough times and adversity. Drawing on interviews with families conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, "The Privilege of Protection During the Pandemic" shows how middle-class households leveraged existing advantages to remain safer, healthier and more secure amid widespread uncertainty.

A new sociological study offers a surprising take on the state of American news: Right-wing news media doesn't just sit on the opposite end of the political spectrum from mainstream outlets—it operates more like a religion than a traditional news source. While we often hear about polarized news media, research from Purdue University argues that this is the wrong framework. Instead of a simple left vs.

Framing is a powerful tool in communications: It can help people grasp complex ideas, but it can also distort or mislead. A recent sociological study suggests that framing social issues as "civil rights" can sometimes have surprising and even negative consequences.