[Updated twice, see below]

[Original post, 2/19/26] From The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law:

"Using primarily government sources, this study examines the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) measures from federal data collections in the first year of the second Trump administration.

"Hundreds of federal surveys have removed SOGI questions in the last year. Measures of gender identity accounted for the vast majority of removals.
Most removals were made through non-substantive change requests rather than the notice-and-comment process."

See the report online. [Update 3/6/26: The report page also includes a data interactive you can sort by title, agency, and measure type.]

[Update 2/20/26] In addition, the Movement Advancement Project has issued a report that draws on the Williams Institute research: "The Federal SOGI Data Landscape Under the Second Trump Administration: One Year In Review"

"In just the first year of the second Trump administration, the federal government has taken action to pull back or erase key sources of data about LGBTQ people. These data losses are occurring as the administration aggressively advances an anti-LGBTQ—and particularly anti-transgender—policy agenda. ... This report reviews recent progress in federal LGBTQ data collection, documents the scope and consequences of current demographic data removals and rollbacks, and outlines strategies and resources to promote accountability and responsible data governance in an increasingly hostile federal environment."

DCSS has organized a panel at the Eastern Sociological Society Meeting in Washington, DC:

“Doing Sociology in the DMV in a Shifting Sociopolitical Landscape”

March 5, 2026 | 11 AM | Salon E

Washington Marriott Metro Center (12th and H NW)

This session invites collaborative discussion on the challenges presented by the evolving sociopolitical dynamics that impact both academia, broadly, and the discipline of sociology, specifically. How are sociologists adapting, resisting, innovating, or encountering obstacles in response to these changes?

Panelists:

Kim Blankenship, American U and Center for AIDS Research
Yuki Kato, Georgetown U and DC Food Policy Council
Jennifer Turner, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Judy Lubin, Center for Urban and Racial Equity (not attending but contributing)
Carolette Norwood, Howard U and DCSS President, Moderator

DCSS is also co-sponsoring an informal happy hour on March 5, together with the Public Sociology Association at GMU:

DC Sociologists Happy Hour at ESS

In collaboration with the DC Sociological Society (DCSS), the Public Sociology Association (PSA) at GMU will be hosting an informal post-conference social hour. Join us on Thursday March 5th, 2026 from 7:00PM-8:30PM at the Jackpot Basement Bar (726 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001).

Attendees will be responsible for their own refreshment costs.

Please register in advance. DCSS membership is not required.

Other presentations by DCSS/DMV sociologists

Dr. Aleezay Khaliq, Loyola U MD, “Contested Belongings: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Campus Muslim Organizations” Session: Ethnic Bonds & Social Belonging, Thursday, 5 March 8:00 a.m., Salon A

Presidential Plenary: “Repair as Worldmaking: Black Reparations and Closing the Racial Wealth Gap” (Karla Bruce, William “Sandy” Darity, Rashawn Ray-U Maryland, Amy Best-GMU (Moderator)), Thursday, 5 March 5:15 p.m., Salon A

Presidential Plenary: “Free DC & Empower DC: Organizing for a Democratic Future in the Nation’s Capital” (Free DC, Parisa Norouzi, Tanya Golash-Boza-UCDC, Johanna Bockman-GMU (Moderator)), Friday, 6 March 3:30 p.m., Salon E

Presidential Address: “Worldmaking for Transformation and Repair; Worldmaking as Transformation and Repair.” Amy Best-GMU, Friday, 6 March 6:00 p.m., Salon A

Presenting at ESS? Please let us know!

Send an e-mail with the details (name[s] and affiliation, title, date and time, brief description) to dcsociologicalsociety@gmail.com and we will update this news item with a list of DMV presenters.

PSID Summer Workshop, Ann Arbor, MI, June 15-19th, 2026

"This five-day workshop will orient participants to the content and structure of the core PSID interview, its special topics modules, and its supplemental studies, including the Child Development Supplement (CDS), the Transition into Adulthood Supplement (TAS), and the 2013 Rosters and Transfers Module. In addition we will discuss topics including the genomics data collected from children and adults as well as new data files which explain family relationships and demographic characteristics over time.

"Eligibility: The workshop is designed for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and research professionals.

"Software: Participants should be familiar with Stata, SAS or R, but all examples used in the workshop will be in Stata. R code will be available for each lab as well.

"Applications from graduate students and postdoctoral fellows must include a letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor, project manager, or department chair.

"Fee: $100 for those accepted into the workshop. Travel and lodging coverage is available for graduate students and postdocs who need financial assistance."

Application Deadline April 15, 2026. See the workshop description online for further details and to apply.

[Update 3/3/26] "U.S. Department of Education Receives Recommendations to Reform the Institute of Education Sciences" (2/27/26) "Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon received a report from U.S. Department of Education Senior Advisor Dr. Amber Northern with suggestions on how to reform the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). The report entitled Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences outlines her recommendations to ensure IES provides state and local policymakers, educators, and relevant stakeholders with high-quality, actionable research and data."

[Update 2/12/26]

From the American Statistical Association (ASA)

The ASA Reimagining-NCES project team is assembling this list of papers, reports, and projects about the value of NCES products and about supporting, restoring, or envisioning NCES and its products or functions to inform our project. Please help us make this list as comprehensive and current as possible.

Original announcement:

"With the support of Lumina Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation, the ASA is launching a project to define a revitalized National Center for Education Statistics that is more efficient and agile. While our primary audience is policymakers in the administration and Congress, we want broad input and discussion for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime discussion. Our goal is to publish recommendations in spring 2026 for discussion and consideration. To inform those recommendations, we are hosting small roundtables with key audiences this fall and winter."

Read "NCES: Perspectives, Insights, and Recommendations from Former Leaders" on the ASA website.

Read the complete announcement and sign up for updates on the ASA website.

[Update, 3/3/26] An article in Inside Higher Ed on February 20 highlighted a recent US Department of Education announcement, "31 Colleges Agree to End Partnerships With PhD Project." Although the headline focus is on one particular nonprofit organization, which ED claims "unlawfully limits eligibility based on the race of participants," the IHE article notes, "Documents obtained by The Washington Post and a story published by the paper prior to ED’s announcement further reinforced that the terms of the agreement extend well beyond cutting ties with the PhD Project. Before the department’s announcement, the Post reported that colleges under investigation had already ended partnerships with 'a range of organizations associated with racial minority groups,' showing the broader reach of OCR’s push against the PhD Project."

[Original post, 1/24/26] “Education Secretary Linda McMahon and her legal team have dropped their appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked the department from requiring colleges to eradicate all race-based curriculum, financial aid and student services or lose federal funding.” Inside Higher Ed 1/22/26

A coalition of advocacy groups, including the American Sociological Association, had filed suit against the Department of Education’s February 2025 guidance. On behalf of the coalition, Democracy Forward announced, “Major Victory for Public Education Comes As Trump-Vance Administration Abandons Appeal on ‘Dear Colleague Letter’” (1/21/26) “Today marks a final defeat in the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to require school districts throughout the nation to censor lessons, abandon student support programs, and certify their compliance with the administration’s unlawful interpretation of civil rights. In 2025, the U.S. District Court for Maryland ruled in favor of a coalition of nationwide associations of educators and a public school district, represented by Democracy Forward, that had challenged the administration actions in American Federation of Teachers et al v. U.S. Department of Education et al. The government filed a notice today withdrawing its appeal of the district court’s final judgment, finalizing the invalidation of the government’s actions.”

In a message to members, ASA Executive Director Heather Washington said, “This victory reaffirms the essential work sociologists and educators do every day—building classrooms and communities where every student feels supported, motivated to learn, and encouraged to explore complex social realities with honesty, curiosity, and intellectual rigor. The ruling enables educators in our discipline and beyond to continue providing accurate instruction that fosters students’ academic and personal growth, helping them become thoughtful, informed community members.”

For context on actions affecting ED during 2025, see our 2025 resources page, which has now been archived.

The 2026 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods is now open for registration and features more than 90 classes ranging from introductory statistics and data analysis to advanced training in cutting-edge and specialized methodological techniques. Running May-August 2026, classes are open to students, faculty, and researchers of all skill levels and backgrounds and are offered both in person and online. Complete information is on the center's website.

The Summer Institute on Longitudinal Data Analysis will be held July 12–17, 2026, at Purdue University. This intensive week-long program offers in-depth training on publicly available longitudinal data sources and advanced longitudinal data analysis techniques. Applicants should have a strong background in quantitative methods but a need for additional training in longitudinal data analysis. Applications are invited from graduate students, postdocs, faculty, industry researchers, nonprofit and public sector workers, and more. Scholarships are available that cover the full cost of tuition, travel to Purdue, housing, and food costs. The application deadline is March 15, 2026. Complete information is on the Purdue website.

[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.