[Update, 2/27/26] "The Census Quality Reinforcement (CQR) Task Force has prepared a comment letter regarding changes to the 2026 Census Test to submit to the recent Federal Register notice [below]. We will be accepting both individual and organizational sign-ons.

"The letter reflects deep concern that the 2026 Census Test, now deliberately reduced in scope, lacks the methodological rigor that a reliable 2030 Census demands. By compromising the breadth and depth of pre‑census testing, it undermines the ability of the test to provide valid and essential evidence in support of an accurate and trustworthy decennial population count. If the integrity of our nation's core statistical enterprise is to be preserved, the Census Bureau must reinstate a comprehensive testing regime that prioritizes data quality over short‑term constraints."

The full letter can be found here. Sign-ons will be accepted until 5:30pm ET on Wednesday, March 4.

[Original item, 2/4/26] in a post on the Federal Data Users forum, Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau noted:

The Census Bureau is requesting public comment on its 2026 Operational Test in support of the 2030 Census. Three elements of the proposed test seem particularly relevant for federal data users:

• The Operational Test described in the notice is limited to two sites: Spartanburg, SC and Huntsville, AL. This is a narrower scope than earlier Census Bureau planning materials. In July 2024, the Bureau announced six planned 2026 test sites, selected to reflect a wide range of enumeration environments, including Tribal lands and rural areas.
• The notice also proposes testing the use of USPS employees as census enumerators. Under the proposal, U.S. Postal Service staff would conduct in-person census interviews in the same manner as Census Bureau field staff. This represents a notable operational change and raises questions about training, respondent interaction, and whether results from a limited test environment can be generalized nationally.
• The notice specifies that Internet Self-Response (ISR) for the test will be available only in English.

The Federal Register announcement of the comment request is available at this link. The comment period ends March 5, 2026.

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)

(February 24, 2026) "The White House recently announced plans to nominate Jim O’Neill as the next Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), placing a longtime health policy official and private-sector investor at the helm of the nation’s premier basic science funding agency.

"O’Neill most recently served as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (see previous coverage). Earlier in his career, O’Neill worked at the Department of Health and Human Services during the administration of George W. Bush. He later moved into the private sector, investing in emerging technologies, including through the Thiel Foundation’s Breakout Labs program, which supports early-stage scientific commercialization.

"In a statement, White House spokesperson Kush Desai highlighted O’Neill’s private-sector experience and his role in the Trump Administration, crediting him with reducing fraud at HHS and prioritizing what he described as rigorous, evidence-based decision-making.

"... In light of O’Neill’s nomination for the NSF post, the White House also announced that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya will temporarily take on the role of acting CDC Director in addition to leading NIH. Bhattacharya will be the third acting CDC Director since Trump started his second term."

Read the complete news item on the COSSA website

"Social Psychology Quarterly seeks papers for a special issue on the theme of social status, which focus on how status is determined, how it impacts individuals, groups, and society, and how it relates to other social phenomena. Editors invite empirical articles that employ quantitative and/or qualitative methods as well as theoretical articles that make important contributions to the social psychological literature on status. Of particular interest are works that develop new theoretical insights on status, advance or refine existing theoretical models of status, or identify interventions that mitigate the disadvantaging effects of status. The deadline for papers is December 15, 2026."

Read the full call for papers in the attached PDF.

Specific call for section, “The Women’s Experience”: “The Women’s Experience section seeks rigorous, thoughtful, and evidence-based analyses that examine gender equity, intersectionality, and the evolving role(s) of women in society at the present moment. In our specific climate, when reproductive rights are being rolled back, fields dominated by women are being “deprofessionalized,” women’s and gender studies programs are being targeted, trad wives and diet culture are going viral, submissions are invited that explore how women are coping with, countering, and/or shaping discourses about women and gender.”

Other thematic sections, instructions and contact details, and more information are in the attached PDF and in a post on LinkedIn.

Key Dates:
Proposal Submission Deadline: April 15, 2026
Notification of Acceptance: By May 15, 2026
Full Chapter Submission Deadline: July 1, 2026

Both Inside Higher Ed and WLRN Public Media from South Florida reported in recent weeks on a newly revised version of a textbook for the Introduction to Sociology course that is apparently being mandated for use at some Florida public colleges and universities.

According to IHE, “Compared to the original 669-page textbook, the new version is just 267 pages. Unlike the original, the state-approved version doesn’t include chapters on media and technology, global inequality, race and ethnicity, social stratification, or gender, sex and sexuality. It also scraps a section on the government-led genocide of Native Americans. And while the original uses the word ‘transgender’ 68 times and ‘racism’ 115 times, the former term appears only once in the new textbook and the latter six times.”

The WLRN article adds that, “The state decided to create the new textbook—edited by staff of the Board of Governors alongside a work group of sociologists—after the Board of Governors, which oversees higher education in Florida, determined that all of the books being used for Introduction to Sociology courses violated new academic restrictions imposed by state law.”

The WLRN article quotes Dawn Carr, a sociologist at Florida State University who participated in the state work group, as calling the textbook a “stop-gap solution. … either sociologists sat at the table to help create a new textbook, or colleges and universities across the state would be forced to remove Introduction to Sociology as a core course offered to incoming students.”

ASA Vice President Victor Ray posted an interview on his blog with Florida International University sociologist Zachary Levenson about “state censorship, how faculty are coping (or not), and how the uncertainty around what can be safely taught is designed to put faculty on edge.” (Part 2 of that interview is here.)

Another FIU sociologist, Katie Rainwater, joined Levenson to author a commentary for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Florida is replacing free inquiry with political indoctrination.” 

(See a DCSS news item on this topic from February 2024.)

Information about these notices was provided by IPUMS at the U of Minnesota

[See a related news item: "Data Checkup framework for assessing the health of federal data collections"]

Federal Register Notice: American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS)

The Department of Commerce is gathering comments on proposed changes to the ACS and PRCS through next Tuesday, February 17. The changes include the introduction of an internet self-response option for the PRCS (as is already used in the ACS) and the implementation of modernized race and ethnicity standards. The updated race and ethnicity standards are set under Statistical Policy Directive 15. The Census Bureau provides a page outlining its extensive research on race and ethnicity and its testing to develop the updated standards.

[See also, "Take Action: American Community Survey" from dataindex.us]

Federal Register Notice: MEPS-Household Component (MEPS-HC)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is accepting comments via the Federal Register through March 2 about changes to the MEPS-HC. The notice references minor changes to question phrasing, a change to the respondent sex question, and the removal of questions about counseling and treatment, birth control, aspirin use, and gender. The notice also reports the discontinuation of two supplements: (1) the Diabetes Care Supplement (DCS), which was fielded annually for 2000-2025 (we do not expect the 2023-2025 data to be released) and (2) the Medical Care Self-Administered Questionnaire (ESAQ), which was slated for a single year of data collection in 2024, with no data yet released. Those interested in these components of the MEPS-HC data for their research may want to respond. If your work is not affected by these changes, you may also use this opportunity to describe the general importance of MEPS-HC data for your research agenda.

Federal Register Notice: Contingent Worker Supplement

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is accepting comments through April 13 via the Federal Register about proposed changes to the Contingent Worker Supplement of the Current Population Survey. The proposed changes will update the collection of digital platform work in the supplement scheduled for July 2026.

"Last week, the dataindex.us team launched the Data Checkup, a comprehensive framework for assessing the health of federal data collections.

"Going beyond simple availability checks, the Data Checkup evaluates datasets across six dimensions of risk, from data quality and statutory context to staffing, funding, and policy pressures. Each dataset is assigned a clear status so users can quickly understand where risks exist, and why.

"Built with input from 30+ data experts, the Data Checkup is designed for researchers, journalists, advocates, litigators, and policymakers who rely on federal data.

"By surfacing risks before data disappears or degrades, the Data Checkup helps protect the data we all depend on."

Explore the framework: dataindex.us/collections

[Ed. note: users of federal data will likely be concerned to see so many key data collections flagged as "high risk."]

Call for a special issue of The British Journal of Sociology
“The New Sociology of Propaganda”

Guest Editors: 
Freeden Blume Oeur (Tufts University, USA)
Fiona Greenland (University of Virginia, USA)

"Propaganda is among the most pervasive and vexing social problems today. In the age of big data and given the tight grip that traditional, social, and new media have on our lives, a crowded field — states, governments, news outlets, civil institutions, and experts — has fought to control, filter, and censor information and its ideological messaging. ... The time is right for social scientific research that updates and advances understanding of propaganda. ... This special issue welcomes sociological research from all subfields and all methodologies, covering any corner of the globe, which bears on questions of modern propaganda. Our hope is that such a special issue will help set the social scientific agenda on propaganda as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century. We encourage empirical articles as well as those more historical in focus and those dedicated to building more theoretical understandings of propaganda."

"If you are interested in submitting a manuscript for this special issue, please send initial information to the Guest Editor, Dr. Freeden Blume Oeur (freeden.blumeoeur@tufts.edu), by Monday, March 16, 2026. By Monday, March 30, 2026 the Guest Editor will let all prospective authors know if they are invited to submit a manuscript for consideration in the special issue."

Read the complete call on the journal website.

"If you rely on federal statistical data in your work--from Census data to BLS employment figures to NCHS health statistics--SSRS wants to hear from you. SSRS is a survey research firm and part of a consortium of partners to create the Emergency Mobilization for Essential Research and Government-Data Equivalents (EMERGE) Initiative. Through a grant from the Knight Foundation and with advisory support from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), SSRS is conducting a brief survey (less than 5 minutes) to understand how recent changes to federal statistical agencies have impacted professionals across sectors.

"Why this matters: Recent disruptions at the 13 federal statistical agencies--including staff reductions and budget cuts--are creating potential gaps in the data infrastructure that researchers, policymakers, journalists, state administrators, and business leaders depend on daily.

"Your responses will directly inform the development of the EMERGE Initiative to explore independent solutions for maintaining access to reliable, publicly accessible statistical data."

Take the survey: ssrspanel.com/wix/4/p868434879294.aspx?ORG=1

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has archived the program page for  the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants, apparently marking an end to this funding, at least for the foreseeable future. (Although the directorate page for the dissertation grants still lists several funding opportunities for specific disciplines, these appear to have been archived.)

The American Anthropological Association sent a letter to Congress on January 21, 2026, urging a restoration of these programs. The Society for Applied Anthropology has also apparently written Congress. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has created an action item to enable social scientists to contact Congress directly, as well. 

This change may be related to NSF's recently announced reorganization and changes to the merit review process for proposals. For more context, see the NSF section of our 2025 resources page and scroll to the bottom of the NSF section. (The 2025 resources page has been archived.)