Title: Emotional Representation: Identifying the Characteristics and Consequences of Elected Officials Mirroring the Emotions of Their Constituents (with Christopher Stout, Gregory Leslie, and Elizabeth Schroeder) Abstract: In this study, we identify a previously overlooked component of representation, which we label ‘emotional representation.’ Emotional representation occurs when elected officials mirror the dominant emotional state of […]
ABSTRACT: Researchers who conduct population surveys face escalating costs and declining response rates, as they aim to collect data that is representative, trustworthy, and publishable. Sample recruitment is often prohibitively expensive to researchers, and cheap convenience samples are fraught with representation and quality issues. NORC at the University of Chicago has built a survey panel […]
TITLE: AI & Social Manipulation ABSTRACT: In this talk, I will overview my decadelong journey into understanding the implications of online platform manipulation. I'll start from detecting malicious bots and other forms of manipulation including troll accounts, coordinated campaigns, and disinformation operations. The impact of my work will be corroborated with examples of findings enabled by […]
Title: Threat in the form of News: Examining the ways that news coverage of immigration constrains systemically marginalized groups Abstract: Although U.S. media portrayals of racial, ethnic, and other historically excluded identities vary based on the group, platform, and genre, generally speaking these groups have tended to be both underrepresented and, at times, unfavorably depicted across the […]
Title: How and why American journalism (accidentally) amplifies anti-democratic actors: Small town extremists, media storms, and a broken news industry Abstract: Within a week, a no-name Republican state representative from a town of 384 people in Illinois catapulted from obscurity to a prime-time appearance on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle. This newly-empowered politician, Darren Bailey, would […]
Title: Exploring Political Communication Strategies of Women’s Rights and LGBTQ+ Communities Over Time Abstract: This study uses a mixed methods approach to explore the communication approaches of organizations advocating for greater political power, access, and representation for women and LGBTQ+ Americans over time. First, I identify a diverse sample of organizations and publications advocating for greater […]
Title: The emergence of communication in infancy: Development and evolution Abstract: Do gestures truly precede vocalization in modern human development and in the evolutionary origin of language? Or is vocalization more foundational for communication? Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the evolutionary origins of language. Speculations on the evolution of language have evoked […]
Title: Media Representations and Their Broader Implications for Intergroup Relations Abstract: This talk highlights the role of media as an ecosystem in cultivating societal divisions within multicultural contexts. Utilizing correlational, experimental, and longitudinal research methodologies, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the nuanced effects on both racial majority and minority audiences. The findings reveal […]
