Areas of Specialization: Political Behavior/Public Opinion, American Politics, Research Methods

Dr. Sims returns to UNO, where he earned his doctorate in 1996, after having worked in the private sector performing public opinion research for Market Dynamics Research Group, Inc., a New Orleans-based research firm, for the past 11 years.  In addition to serving as an assistant professor, he also serves as Director of the UNO Survey Research Center.  Dr. Sims worked as a research assistant with the Survey Research Center under the direction of Center founder, Dr. Susan Howell, as a graduate student in political science. 

Dr. Sims' current research interests fall primarily within the broad subject areas of Religion and Politics and Political Socialization.  In the Religion and Politics area, his interest includes exploration of similarities and differences in evaluative mechanisms for religious and political objects and the implications of the application of these mechanisms for political behavior.  Exploration of the impact of a sustained traumatic event (Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath) on the development and change of political attitudes and cognitions is a primary research interest in the area of Political Socialization.  Dr. Sims is currently working on methodological research involving the application of the "Kano Model," a model used in marketing research to assist in product positioning, to electoral research.