Entries by Topos Partnership

Framing Job Quality as Common Sense

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The common sense idea that thriving communities and a strong economy depend on employers providing reasonable compensation for work has the power to lift a range of job quality solutions.

Labor Day Boost

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A new “Simply-Put” video provides a brief illustration of how to make the core points emerging from Topos research on communicating job quality, including minimum wage and paid sick days.

Reframing Privatization Schemes

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Topos is often invited to share our work on reframing privatization with groups that are on the front lines of countering efforts to shift public assets and public responsibilities to private companies. Topos has found that when the topic of privatization is framed simply as an issue of cost effectiveness, average people assume that private enterprise […]

Focus on Personal Stories

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Close Up vs. Big Picture Stories: The Role of Individual Examples in Advocacy Communications Research and real-life experience, plus perspectives from the social and cognitive sciences, tell us that “putting the face on the story” can often backfire. In this memo, we explore the reasons why this approach can go so wrong – from diverting […]

Talking About Talking About Poverty

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Writing in The Nation, reporter Greg Kaufmann updates readers on the national campaign to include discussion of poverty policy in the Presidential debates. He interviewed Topos Senior Fellow Margy Waller about reframing the public dialogue. Waller said research suggests that the way we usually talk about poverty—even using the words “poverty” and “welfare” themselves—“makes most people think […]