Scharrer and Shoub Receive 2024 Outstanding Research Award
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The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Outstanding Research Award: Erica Scharrer, professor of communication, and Kelsey Shoub, assistant professor of public policy and undergraduate program director. This award, which includes a $1,000 prize and a plaque, recognizes distinguished achievement in scholarship and research by tenure-line faculty within the College.
Professor Erica Scharrer was nominated for the Outstanding Research Award for her impressive track record of excellence in research and scholarship over the past five years. In 2021, Professor Scharrer received the Distinguished Community-Engaged Research Award at UMass, which recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions to community-engaged research with local, regional, national, or international impacts. The International Communication Association (ICA), the most prominent international association for communication scholars, named Professor Scharrer as a fellow in 2022. ICA also presented Professor Scharrer with the Senior Scholar Award from the Children, Adolescents, and Media division of ICA in 2023.
In addition to Professor Scharrer's many accolades for her research, her most recent book, "Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice," advances principles and practices to conduct quantitative research from a critical theory-informed, social justice lens. In addition, she has co-authored two book chapters on research methods, one on social justice and quantitative methods and another on rethinking methods in media effects research. Beyond the valuable information Professor Scharrer has provided to her peers, she also has a track record of pursuing community engagement work, showing a solid commitment to informing experts and the public of important communication research.
Professor Kelsey Shoub was nominated for her outstanding and prolific research record, which is especially impressive for someone who received their PhD in 2018. Her work has contributed significantly to academic and public understanding of race, gender, and policing and how language about policy shapes public understanding. "Suspect Citizens: What 20 Million Traffic Stops Tells Us About Policing & Race," a 2018 book co-authored by Professor Shoub, utilized data from 20 million traffic stops in North Carolina to demonstrate how ubiquitous racial disparities are within police forces and how greater political representation within Black communities offers a way to address such disparities.
In addition to co-authorship of such an important book, in 2021, Professor Shoub was awarded the Herbert Kaufman Best Paper Award from the American Political Science Association's Section on Public Administration for her article "Do Female Officers Police Differently? Evidence from Traffic Stops." She has also published thirteen peer-reviewed articles in excellent journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, and Journal of Public Policy, just to name a few. According to the Web of Science, she has been cited more than 200 times and already has an H-index of 5, which is quite an accomplishment for a researcher so early in their career.
SBS is proud of the extraordinary research efforts put forth by Professors Scharrer and Shoub. The SBS Outstanding Research Award is presented annually to those who either self-nominate or are nominated by their peers. Please visit the SBS website for the complete award requirements and a list of all past winners.