D. Sunshine Hillygus
· Professor of Political ScienceDuke University · Political Science
Active 2003–2026
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About
D. Sunshine Hillygus is a Professor of Political Science at Duke University, serving since 2015. She is also a professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and the director of the Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology, as well as co-director of the Polarization Lab. Her research focuses on American political behavior, campaigns and elections, survey methods, public opinion, and the intersection of information technology and politics. Hillygus has published extensively on these topics and is known for her contributions to understanding voter behavior, political communication, and survey accuracy. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Stanford University and has been actively involved in research projects funded by notable institutions, including the John Templeton Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Computer Science
- Public relations
- Sociology
- Psychology
- Economics
- Internet privacy
- Social psychology
- Computer Security
- Law
Selected publications
2020 · 141 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingIn 2016, 90% of young Americans reported an interest in politics. 80% intended to vote. Yet only 43% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 ended up actually casting a ballot. Making Young Voters investigates what lies at the core of this gap. The authors' in-depth, interdisciplinary approach reveals that political apathy is not the reason for low levels of youth turnout. Rather, young people too often fail to follow through on their political interests and intentions. Those with 'noncognitive'…
Assessment of ownership of smart devices and the acceptability of digital health data sharing
npj Digital Medicine · 2024-02-22 · 79 citations
articleOpen accessSmart portable devices- smartphones and smartwatches- are rapidly being adopted by the general population, which has brought forward an opportunity to use the large volumes of physiological, behavioral, and activity data continuously being collected by these devices in naturalistic settings to perform research, monitor health, and track disease. While these data can serve to revolutionize health monitoring in research and clinical care, minimal research has been conducted to understand what moti…
Reducing political polarization in the United States with a mobile chat platform
Nature Human Behaviour · 2023 · 45 citations
The Consequences of Personality Biases in Online Panels for Measuring Public Opinion
Public Opinion Quarterly · 2020 · 27 citations
Abstract Online surveys, particularly those that draw samples from online panels of experienced respondents, now comprise a large segment of the academic and commercial opinion research markets due to their low cost and flexibility. A growing literature examines the implications of online surveys for data quality, most commonly by comparing demographic and political characteristics of different samples. In this paper, we explore the possibility that personality may differentially influence the l…
Protecting the integrity of survey research
PNAS Nexus · 2023 · 25 citations
Although polling is not irredeemably broken, changes in technology and society create challenges that, if not addressed well, can threaten the quality of election polls and other important surveys on topics such as the economy. This essay describes some of these challenges and recommends remediations to protect the integrity of all kinds of survey research, including election polls. These 12 recommendations specify ways that survey researchers, and those who use polls and other public-oriented s…
Recent grants
Education, Engagement, and Well-Being Among Adolescents
NSF · $250k · 2014–2017
NSF · $336k · 2017–2021
Frequent coauthors
- 20 shared
John Holbein
- 16 shared
Jerome P. Reiter
Duke University
- 7 shared
Alexander Volfovsky
Duke University
- 7 shared
Christopher A. Bail
Duke University
- 7 shared
Todd Shields
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
- 7 shared
Laura Lazarus Frankel
Duke University
- 6 shared
Max Hirshkowitz
- 5 shared
Gabriel Madson
RTI International
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