Dr. Andrew R. Binder

Assistant Professor

• Website: http://www.andrewrbinder.com/bio

• Email: arbinder@ncsu.edu
• Phone: 919-513-2430
• Office: Winston Hall 103
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Biography

Since completion of my doctorate in August 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I am assistant professor in the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University. I have also been appointed associate director of the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCOST) Project.

Interests

Primarily, my teaching and research focus on public perceptions of controversial science issues and how they influence behaviors and attitudes, especially concerning public policy and politics. During the summer and fall of 2009, I traveled to Kansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Washington DC to collect data for my dissertation, which will explore the communication and public opinion dynamics surrounding the site selection for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). My dissertation is part of a larger grant project funded by the National Science Foundation (SES-0820474), and my co-authors and I have an article forthcoming in Risk Analysis on the role of citizen discussions in the formation of public attitudes about this issue. The press release is avilable here, a summary by Dietram A. Scheufele here, and a write-up from Miller-McCune here.

Publications

Binder, A. R., Cacciatore, M. A., Scheufele, D. A., Shaw, B. R., & Corley, E. A. (in press). Measuring risks/benefits perceptions of emerging technologies and their potential impact on communication of public opinion toward science. Public Understanding of Science. doi: 10.1177/0963662510390159

Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Gunther, A. C. (in press). Interpersonal amplification of risk? Citizen discussions and their influence on risk and benefit perceptions of a biological research facility. Risk Analysis. doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2010.01516.x

Ho, S. S., Binder, A. R., Becker, A. B., Moy, P., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., et al. (in press). The role of perceptions of media bias in general and issue-specific participation. Mass Communication and Society.

Binder, A. R. (2010). Routes to attention or shortcuts to apathy? Exploring domain-specific communication pathways and their implications for public perceptions of controversial science. Science Communication, 32(3), 383-411.

Binder, A. R., Dalrymple, K. E., Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2009). The soul of a polarized democracy: Testing theoretical linkages between talk and attitude extremity during the 2004 presidential election. Communication Research, 36(3), 315-340.

Presentations

Binder, A. R., Liang, X., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Gunther, A. C. (2010, December). Reconsidering risk amplification: Content analysis of thematic emphasis in newspaper coverage of a proposed biological research facility. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, Salt Lake City, UT.

Cacciatore, M. A., Brigham Schmuhl, N., Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., & Shaw, B. (2010, December). Off the top of your head: Exploring the influence of mental associations on risk and benefit perceptions of biofuels. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, Salt Lake City, UT.

Cacciatore, M. A., Brigham Schmuhl, N., Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., & Shaw, B. (2010, December). Assessing public opinion of alternative energies: The role of cognitive associations in support for biofuels. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, Salt Lake City, UT.

Binder, A. R. (2010, August). Explicating media use 2.0: A theoretical and empirical examination of a key communication concept. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Communication Theory & Methodology Division), Denver, CO.

Binder, A. R., Cacciatore, M. A., Scheufele, D. A., Shaw, B. R., & Corley, E. A. (2010, May). Measuring perceptions of emerging technologies: Errors in survey self-reports and their potential impact on communication of public opinion toward science. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Interest Group), Denver, CO.

Education

• Ph.D. in Mass Communications from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010
• M.S. in Life Sciences Communication from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007
• B.A. in French from University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001