Teenage immigrants have a harder time adjusting to their new country than young children. They attend fewer years of school and earn less money as adults, a new study finds.

With the final stretch of the 2012 presidential election now here, some central research-oriented questions that are traditionally asked about campaigns are coming to the fore. These areas include: the state of the economy and its effects on electoral outcomes; the role of money and the power of ads; the impact of the candidate debates; the effectiveness of the campaigns’ “ground games”;  and the potential for “coattail” effects down the ballot.