Daniel A. Cox is the director of the Survey Center on American Life and a senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Under his leadership, the center is focused on public opinion and survey research, on topics such as religious change and measurement, social capital, and youth politics. Before joining AEI, he was the research director at PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute), which he cofounded and where he led the organization’s qualitative and quantitative research program.
He is also the coauthor of numerous academic book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers on topics relating to religious polarization, anti-Muslim attitudes in the US, religious tolerance of atheists, and new methods for measuring social class and religious belief.
Dr. Cox’s work is frequently featured in the popular press, including in the Atlantic, CNN, and the Washington Post. He is a contributor to FiveThirtyEight and Insider.
Dr. Cox holds a PhD and an MA in American government from Georgetown University, where he focused on public opinion, political behavior, and religion and politics. Read more.
Kelsey Eyre Hammond
Program Coordinator and Researcher | @klehshey
Kelsey Eyre Hammond is a program coordinator here at American Enterprise Institute (AEI)’s Survey Center on American Life. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brigham Young University with a minor in Mandarin Chinese.
Kelsey has researched and written about partisan trust, partisan sorting, and the intersection of politics and religion. Her interests include public opinion regarding societal and cultural norms and phenomenons, women’s experiences, and trends in religion.
Avery Shields
Research Assistant
Avery Shields is a Research Assistant at AEI’s Survey Center on American Life. She graduated from the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in French Language, Literature, and Culture.
Avery has researched racial demographic change and the evolution of the American electorate. Her interests lie in understanding how Americans process political information and the factors that influence support for democratic institutions among the voting population.
Beatrice Lee is a research assistant for Politics and Public Opinion Studies and the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute. She works with AEI senior fellow Daniel A. Cox and visiting scholar Samuel J. Abrams compiling and analyzing polls on a variety of contemporary political and social issues. Before joining AEI, Beatrice worked as a research assistant for Middlebury College, where she developed course material on survey methodology and introductory statistics. She graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Economics.
Recent Commentary
June 20, 2024
The Surprising Issue That Could Help Biden With Young Voters
Young voters are less supportive of Biden than they were in 2020. Embracing immigration may be the key to reclaiming the youth vote.
March 5, 2024
The Societal Cost of the Marriage Decline
Marriage is positively associated with greater community involvement across a range of different activities.
February 9, 2024
Gen Z’s Romance Gap: Why Nearly Half of Young Men Aren’t Dating
Until very recently, American culture has operated on the flawed notion that teenage dating and sex required little encouragement. Teenage romance was once seen as a natural part of American adolescence. This, it turns out, is completely wrong. Teenage dating is not inevitable and it’s a rapidly disappearing part of the American teenage experience. These
January 23, 2024
The War within Gen Z
Young men and women no longer agree on anything. What happened?