About
Joe's research program has been concentrated in two main areas: environmental systems and economic development in rural areas. Recently, the bulk of his research activities have moved to applied demography as the director of the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics (PAD). This program, funded by the NYS Dept. of Economic Development, is the NYS representative to the Census Bureau's Federal-State Cooperative on Population Estimates and Projections. It provides annual population estimates for the State, its Economic Districts and counties as well as updated population projections periodically. They are a participating member of the Cornell Population Center and collaborator of that program plus the Cornell Community and Regional Development Institute and the NYS Center for Rural Schools. They also undertake various demographic analyses with a strong emphasis on mapping and spatial analysis. They have created a digital atlas on all key variables from the 2010 Census and for the 2006-10 American Community Survey. They completed an evaluation of the 2012 vintage Urban Areas (urban clusters and urbanized areas) and produced a series of demographic profiles for each NY county, towns, cities and Indian Reservations, sponsored by Cornell's Cooperative Extension and the Community and Regional Development Institute. In the teaching area, they have been concentrated in one area since the inception of Joe's appointment at Cornell University: research methods and statistics. He continues to offer graduate level courses in methods/statistics. Over the past several years, they introduced and continue to revise courses in geographical information systems (GIS), spatial analysis and spatial statistics.
Areas of Expertise
Community Economic Development, Demographic Information, Geographic Information Systems, Quantitative Research Methods, School Enrollment, Social and Spatial Statistics
Research Focus
Joe's emphasis is on applied work and this is reflected in work population estimates, population projections and demographic analysis. He also does work in geographic information systems and mapping, and as of late has also been in the area of schools and community characteristics.
Courses Taught:
Joe's main areas are statistics and, recently, geographical information systems. He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. All of his classes have both lecture/discussion and lab sessions. He emphasizes experiential learning via labs.
- DSOC 2130 Social Indicators, Data Management and Analysis
- DSOC 3140 Spatial Thinking, GIS, and Related Methods
- DSOC 380 Social Science Honors Research
- DSOC 5600 Analytical Mapping and Spatial Modeling
- DSOC 618 Research Design I: Measurement
- DSOC 6190 Research Design II: Analysis
- DSOC 718 Multidimensional Measurement and Classification
- DSOC 7190 Advanced Regression and Spatial Statistics
- DSOC 872.4 Incorporating Spatial Analysis in Social Science Research Projects
Awards and Honors
- NutriPhone grant (2014) Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Core Functionality (2012) Cornell Population Program
Presentations and Activities
- Francis, J., X. Li, & Sipple, J. W. (2014, August 1) Social and Economic Benefits of ‘Nearby’ Schools on Local Communities. Paper presented at the. Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociology Society . August 2014. Rural Sociology Society . New Orleans, LA.
- Social and Economic Benefits of ‘Nearby’ Schools on Local Communities. North America Meetings of the Regional Science Association. November 2013. Regional Science Association. Atlanta, CA.
- A Spatial Reassessment of the Impact of Schools on Rural Communities. 2013 Federal Reserve System Research Conference. April 2013. Federal Reserve Bank. Washington, D.C.
- A Reassessment of the Social and Economic Benefits of Rural Schools on Local Communities: The Case of New York State. 59th Annual North America Meetings of the Regional Science Association International. November 2012. Regional Science Association International. Ottawa, Canada.
- Finding, Downloading and Mapping Census Data. NYS GIS Conference 2012. May 2012. NYGIS Association and Syracuse University College of Environmental Science and Forestry . Syracuse, NY.
- Making Data Useful: Providing Enhanced Access to Public Data Through Web and App Tools to Facilitate Better Local Decisionmaking. INTED, 2012. March 2012. International Technology, Education, and Development (INTED) Conference. Valencia, Spain.
- CPC Encore Conference. October 2011. Cornell Population Center. Developments in Data Visualization for Demographers.
Education
- Doctorate, University of Missouri at Columbia, 1970
- Master of Science, Wichita State University, 1964