Projects

In summer 2025, I am investigating whether, overtime, nonpolitical characteristics such as social isolation and depressed feelings have increasing correlation with the likelihood to swing in presidential elections, controlling for other major factors, using statistical methods and survey data. I pooled the American National Election Survey-General Social Survey panel, conducted factor analysis to create measurements for social isolation and emotional vulnerability, and ran multinomial logit on the probability to swing.

In my thesis part I, I laid out the theoretical pathway of political communication given algorithms as a key actor in choosing which message to promte and whom to receive what. I constructed a pathway diagram and provided the clear mechanism and steps for empirical testing at each linkage. I also supplemented a mechanism for how entertainment messages persuade which is a current theoretical puzzle in the political communication literature. If you are interested, I am happy to send a writing sample.

At HackMIT, my team and I created a smart-glass app to help autistic individuals analyze social situations and reflect on better courses of action. However, although our product was useful, it led me to ponder whether AI is actually desired or ethical when it comes to personality developing and connecting to the world.