John Barry Ryan
Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 2009. Principle research and teaching interests include public opinion, voting, elections, mass media, and the effects of context on political behavior.
Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on how individuals use information from the news and their discussion partners to make political decisions. Do poorly informed individuals free ride on the information gathered by their more knowledgeable peers? When messages conflict, which messages do voters use to evaluate candidates and conditions? Current research projects include the effects of political discussion on informed voting decisions, the criteria individuals use in selecting political informants, and the consequences of the criteria the media use to select news stories.