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 Duke 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
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 Scholarly Works
The promises and pitfalls of using panel data to understand individual belief change
Journal article Political Psychology · April 1, 2026 We investigate whether studies on political belief change can identify change trajectories at the individual level. Using simulations and case studies, we propose a grid-search framework that allows researchers to evaluate the extent to which their target ... Full text CiteLiberals and Conservatives See Different Victims: Moral Disagreement Is Explained by Different Assumptions of Vulnerability.
Journal article Personality & social psychology bulletin · March 2026 Moral disagreement across politics revolves around the key question, "Who is a victim?" Twelve studies explain moral conflict with assumptions of vulnerability (AoVs): liberals and conservatives disagree about who is especially vulnerable to victimi ... Full text CiteQuantifying the Importance of Change for Understanding Differences in Personal Culture
Preprint · January 13, 2026 Studies in the sociology of culture have converged on a general conclusion that while people sometimes make substantial shifts in their personal culture over time, most elements of personal culture are characterized by low rates of persistent change dur ... Full text CiteEducation
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ·
2008
Ph.D.