Dhavan
V. Shah
is Maier-Bascom Professor at the UW-Madison, where he is also Director of the Mass Communication Research Center, Scientific Director of the Active Aging Research Center, and a Core Leader in the Center for Excellence in Cancer Communication Research. He is housed in the School
of Journalism and Mass Communication with appointments in the Department
of Political Science and the College of Engineering. His research concerns the social
psychology of communication influence, especially effects
on social evaluations, political judgments, health outcomes,
and civic participation. For details, see Research and CV sections of the website.
Highlighted
Research:
Modern
political campaigns involve broadcast advertising and digital media.
This research merges two large data sets,
one tracking national political ad content and placement and another
measuriung citizens' conventional and digital media use,
political exchanges, and levels of participation. We find
that political ad exposure drives news use, leading to political
conversation - face-to-face and online - and, in turn, participation. Yet exposure
to attack ads appears to diminish news
use, indirectly suppressing participation. We conclude ads
and digital media work in tandem to shape participatory action.
University
Affiliations: Center for Health Enhancement Systems
Studies (CHESS): This transdisciplinary center conducts research and development of innovative health systems, especially information and communication services, in order to optimize individuals' health behaviors, quality of life, and access to services.|More Info|
Political
Communication at the UW: A cross-departmental consortium
of faculty examining the connections between mass media, citizen
communication, and politics. The website lists faculty affiliates,
their interests and departmental affiliations, and courses available
to students.|
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Consumer
Culture and Civic Participation (CCCP): A working group
investigating the fluid and evolving relationship among mass media,
consumption, markets, and civic and political life. Organizer
of "The Politics of Consumption/The Consumption of Politics"
coinference and ANNALS volume.|
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Mass
Communications Research Center (MCRC): This research team explores the psychological
underpinnings of political communication influences, especially
message framing and priming effects, using dynamic online survey
experiments. |
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Social Media and Democracy
(SMAD): This research team explores the social and
psychological influences of social media, especially political
blogs, video-sharing sites, and other user-created content, using surveys, experiments, content analysis, and other methods.
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More Info|
