Lawrence D. Bobo

About

Lawrence Bobo is the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and a frequent contributor to The Root. In his writings, Bobo critically examines political leadership and social issues, as exemplified in his analysis of President Barack Obama's presidency. He highlights Obama's commitment to responsibility, reasonableness, and doing the right thing, noting the president's professorial posture and his efforts to set a new tone for national politics through bipartisanship and moral conviction. Bobo reflects on the challenges Obama faced, including economic recovery, health-care reform, and foreign policy, while also addressing the difficulties posed by media narratives and political opposition. Through his work, Bobo engages thoughtfully with the complexities of leadership, social justice, and the pursuit of meaningful change in contemporary America.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Gender studies
• Criminology
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Medicine
• Social psychology
• Medical emergency
• Law

Selected publications

• Can Non-full-probability Internet Surveys Yield Useful Data? A Comparison with Full-probability Face-to-face Surveys in the Domain of Race and Social Inequality Attitudes

  Sociological Methodology · 2015-03-11 · 188 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The authors investigate the potential utility of Web-based surveys of non-full-probabilistically sampled respondents for social science research. Specifically, they compare demographic, attitude response, and multivariate model results produced by two distinct survey modalities: the traditional full-probability sample face-to-face survey and the non-full-probability Web survey. Using data from the 2009 Race Cues, Attitudes, and Punitiveness Survey (RCAPS), the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS), a…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Racism in Trump's America: reflections on culture, sociology, and the 2016 US presidential election

  British Journal of Sociology · 2017-11-01 · 172 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Despite much positive change in the post civil rights era, U.S. notions of racism and white supremacy remain powerful elements of American culture. The adaptability and enduring power of these forces can be seen in the emergence of a new historical epoch best describe as the era of Laissez Faire Racism. Prevalent attitudes among white Americans, certain theoretical arguments and hypotheses in American sociology, as well the election of Donald Trump rest upon the on-going operation of racism. In…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• UNDERSTANDING “NO SPECIAL FAVORS”

  Du Bois Review Social Science Research on Race · 2018-01-01 · 52 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Despite its predictive power, there is substantial debate about the attitudes measured by the racial resentment scale (RRS) and the relative weight of each. One group contends that the RRS is a valid measure of racial animus, foregrounding a basic psychological acrimony; some foreground social concerns about group status hierarchies; and yet others assert that the RRS is an invalid measure of racial enmity, instead primarily tapping non-racial principles and politics. We use a multimeth…

  PublisherDOI

• THE STICKINESS OF RACE

  Du Bois Review Social Science Research on Race · 2014-01-01 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ethno-Racial Attitudes and Social Inequality

  Handbooks of sociology and social research · 2014-01-01 · 20 citations

  book-chapterOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Evelyn Higginbotham

  Columbia University

  17 shared

• Angela De Leon

  Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

  16 shared

• Amy Rockefeller

  Boston University

  16 shared

• Charles J. Ogletree

  16 shared

• Titi Yu

  University of California, Los Angeles

  16 shared

• Michelle Ferrari

  16 shared

• Dyllan Mcgee

  Boston University

  16 shared

• Sue Williams

  Natural Resources Wales

  16 shared

Labs

• Lawrence D. Bobo LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Sociology

  Harvard University

  1992

• M.A., Sociology

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1987

• B.A., Sociology

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1984

Awards & honors

• Cooley-Mead Award from the American Sociological Association…
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sc…
• Guggenheim Fellow
• Alphonse M. Fletcher Sr. Fellow

Similar researchers at Harvard University

• David R. Williamsh-144
• Jesse McCarthyh-85
• Jarvis R. Givensh-43