Overview
The main goal of my research is to understand moral and political beliefs: what they are, where they come from, and what they do. I lead the Measuring Morality project, the goal of which is to understand how different ideas of morality fit together and influence politics and other domains of life.
I also work quite a bit on statistical methods for observational data, including panel data, treatment effects analysis, and multilevel modeling.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Professor of Sociology
·
2016 - Present
Sociology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology
·
2013 - Present
Sociology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Co-Director of the Worldview Lab in the Kenan Institute for Ethics
·
2018 - Present
Kenan Institute for Ethics,
University Institutes and Centers
Professor of Political Science
·
2018 - Present
Political Science,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center
·
2010 - Present
Duke Population Research Center,
Duke Population Research Institute
Recent Publications
Quantifying the Importance of Change for Understanding Differences in Personal Culture
Preprint · January 13, 2026 Full text CiteDeviations from cultural consensus about occupations: The duality of occupation meanings and Americans’ meaning communities
Journal Article Social Networks · July 1, 2025 We examine ratings of 642 occupations by a national online sample of U.S respondents in 2019 (Freeland et al., 2020). We analyze the respondents’ ratings of occupations on three dimensions of cultural meaning—evaluation (good versus bad), potency (powerful ... Full text CiteThe Promises and Pitfalls of Using Panel Data to Understand Individual Belief Change
Preprint · May 14, 2025 Full text CiteEducation, Training & Certifications
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ·
2008
Ph.D.