Research

Recent research projects

Studying deliberative public forums, such as the Citizens’ Initiative Review, and using field research and survey/experimental research to better understand how these processes help participants and the wider public learn more about public issues and reach collective decisions. One project in this area, supported by a grant from the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program, is examining how deliberation can help citizens in coastal communities have productive discussions about the effects of climate change and how to prevent and become resilient against those effects. A recent study from this project was published in the Journal of Risk Research.

Examining political misperceptions and misinformation, and understanding how people develop incorrect factual beliefs about political issues, as well as ways that these factual beliefs could be corrected. This work has primarily focused on ballot measures and initiatives, a context in which citizens are directly deciding on policy issues but may struggle with understanding the details of proposed laws and regulations. 

Studying the process of political socialization for Latino immigrants in the U.S. as they develop their understanding of political engagement and discussion in their new society. This project has examined the role of close social and family contacts, and more distant social networks, in shaping the socialization process for immigrants. In addition, this work is aimed at improving our understanding of the social norms that affect political discussion practices, and how those norms may shift over time as societies become more diverse.

Conducting applied research on how deliberative democracy can be used to make public policy decisions on issues related to risk perception, scientific/technical topics, and the environment. A multi-year project in this area, supported by a National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence grant, is applying deliberative decision-making models to the context of Native North American communities that are considering ways to participate in genetics and genomics research. Here are some recent publications from this project: AJOB Empirical Bioethics; Frontiers in Genetics; PLOS ONE.

Applying theories of group communication to the context of terrorism, with the aim of building a stronger understanding of group dynamics and decision-making in terrorist cells and leadership groups. This project, which was supported by the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, involved experiments of online group discussion and how processes like group polarization and risky shift can result in more extreme decisions.  

Recent and representative publications (asterisks indicate student co-authors)

Hurst, E.H.*, Trujillo-Falcón, J.*, Reedy, J., Anderson, C.* (2021). Citizen deliberation at South Carolina’s ‘Our Coastal Future Forum’: Talking through risk related to climate change. Journal of Risk Research, online ahead of print, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13669877.2021.2020882

Blacksher, E., Hiratsuka, V. Y., Blanchard, J. W., Lund, J. R., Reedy, J., Beans, J. A., Saunkeah, B., Peercy, M., Byars, C., Yracheta, J., Tsosie, K. S., O’Leary, M., Ducheneaux, G., & Spicer, P. G. (2021). Deliberations with American Indian and Alaska Native People about the Ethics of Genomics: An Adapted Model of Deliberation Used with Three Tribal Communities in the United States. AJOB Empirical Bioethics, 12:3, 164-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/23294515.2021.1925775

Reedy, J., Orr, R., Spicer, P., Blanchard, J., Hiratsuka, V., Ketchum, T.S., Saunkeah, B., Wark, K., Woodbury, R.B. (2020). Deliberative Democracy and American Indian/Alaska Native Political Decision-making Practices. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications. 7:16. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0506-4

Wyant, M.H.*, Hurst, E.H.*, & Reedy, J. (2020). Political Socialization of International Students: Public-Issue Discourse and Discussion on the College Campus, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 49, 372-393, DOI: 10.1080/17475759.2020.1785529

Reedy, J., Blanchard, J., Lund, J.*, Byers, C., Peercy, M., Saunkeah, B., Spicer, P., Blacksher, E. (2020). Deliberations about Genomic Research and Biobanks with Citizens of the Chickasaw Nation. Frontiers in Genetics, 11:466. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.00466/full  

Hiratsuka, V., Beans, J., Blanchard, J., Reedy, J., Blacksher, E., Lund, J.*, Spicer, P. (2020) An Alaska Native community’s views on genetic research, testing, and return of results: Results from a public deliberation. PLOS ONE. 15(3): e0229540.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229540

Gonzalez O’Brien, B., Hurst, E.*, Reedy, J., & Collingwood, L. (2019). Framing Refuge: Partisanship, Crime, and Media Coverage of Sanctuary Cities. Mass Communication & Society, 22, 756-778. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2019.1685106

Anderson, C.*, & Reedy, J. (2019) Compensatory Control Theory and Public Opinion on Nuclear Policy: Developing an Experimental Measure in an Applied Environmental Context. Frontiers in Communication, 4:27.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00027/full

Gastil, J., Knobloch, K., Reedy, J., Henkels, M., & Cramer, K. (2018). Assessing the electoral impact of the 2010 Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review. American Politics Research, 46, 534-563. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1532673X17715620

Gastil, J., Reedy, J., Wells, C. (2018). Knowledge distortion in direct democracy: A longitudinal study of biased empirical beliefs on statewide ballot measures. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 30, 540–560. https://academic.oup.com/ijpor/article/doi/10.1093/ijpor/edx012/4210390/Knowledge-Distortion-in-Direct-Democracy-A

Reedy, J. (2015). Paths to the practices of citizenship: Political discussion and socialization among Mexican-heritage immigrants in the US. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 44, 201-223. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17475759.2015.1053823

Reedy, J., Anderson, C.*, & Conte, P.* (2021). Citizen deliberation as a correction: The role of deliberative mini-publics in addressing political misperceptions.In The Politics of Truth in Polarized America, Edited by David Barker & Elizabeth Suhay, Oxford University Press.

Reedy, J. & Anderson, C.* (2019) Small Groups for Good or Ill: Developing a Group Communication Approach to Security. In The Handbook of Communication and Security, Taylor, B., & Bean, H. (Eds.) London: Routledge.