Ep 3: Lena Etuk on Social Demography & Data-Driven Decision Making

On this episode of the "Research in Action" podcast, I’m joined by Lena Etuk, a Social Demographer at the Oregon State University Extension Service. Lena has a Masters of Science in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a specialty in social stratification and demography. Since joining the OSU Extension Service, she has worked to increase Oregonians’ access to social scientific information that can help them and their communities realize positive change. She works with community members, non-profits, government, public agencies, and Extension Service faculty to create, recognize, and capitalize on opportunities for data-driven decision making. Segment 1: What is social demography? [00:00-9:55] In this first segment, Lena defines demography and social demography and offers some examples of the issues that social demographers are concerned with that effect population change. Lena also describes the work of applied social demography. Segment 2: Applications of social demography [9:56-20:25] In segment two, Lena describes some of the skills and methods of social demographers and how social demographers specialize. Segment 3: Fostering a culture of data-driven decision making [20:26-30:51] In segment three, Lena and I discuss definitions of data and whether anecdote can be considered as data. Bonus Clip: Pathways to Becoming a Social Demographer [00:00-2:49] To share feedback about this podcast episode, ask questions that could be featured in a future episode, or to share research-related resources, post a comment below or contact the Research in Action podcast: Twitter: @RIA_podcast or #RIA_podcast Email: [email protected] Voicemail: 541-737-1111 If you listen to the podcast via iTunes, please consider leaving us a review. Research in Action is produced by the Oregon State University Ecampus multimedia team.