Word: unpopular
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...study to be published in the March issue of Social Science Quarterly, David Kalist and Daniel Lee, economists at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, find that adolescent boys with unpopular names are likelier than other boys to be referred to the juvenile-justice system for alleged offenses. The researchers conclude that the Ernests, Prestons and Tyrells of America are significantly more delinquent than the Michaels and Davids. Why? (See the top 10 crime stories...
...point out that previous research has shown that the name Allison is rarely given to girls whose mothers didn't finish high school but is frequently given to girls whose mothers have 17 years or more of schooling. On average, parents with less schooling are likelier to pick unpopular names for their kids. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens...
...define unpopular? For their study, Kalist and Lee accumulated all 15,012 names given to the boys born in one large state between 1987 and 1991. (To get the boys' names, the authors had to agree not to reveal the state's name.) The researchers developed an equation that gave the most popular name of the period, Michael, a score of 100. The name David got a 50. Ernest, Preston, Tyrell, Kareem, Malcolm, Alec were each given a 1. Kalist and Lee theorized that the boys with the lower-scoring names might commit more delinquent acts...
...name doesn't cause the crime, of course, and the way people react to the name isn't the only other factor at work. Rather, boys with unpopular names are likelier to live in single-parent households and have less money. Those with unpopular names may also find it harder to get jobs because of the negative stigma toward certain names - particularly names likely to be given to African Americans, like Kareem. And the unemployed are likelier to commit crimes than those who work...
...result has been a transition unlike any other, a virtual co-presidency whose continuities include a shared commitment to fiscal stimulus on an unprecedented scale. Obama's tacit collaboration with an unpopular predecessor offers the strongest evidence yet of his sincerity in wanting to change the brutish tone of official Washington. It's a safe bet his ride to Capitol Hill will be far more civil than the ghastly Hoover-Roosevelt procession. And that's change we can all believe...