Meet Alex Tolkin
New Postdoctoral Researcher Exploring Politics, Media, and Methodology
We are excited to welcome Alex Tolkin, a new postdoctoral researcher with a unique interdisciplinary background and a keen interest in understanding how Americans form political beliefs. With a PhD in Political Science and Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, Alex brings a thoughtful and reflective approach to both research and collaboration.
As Alex puts it, his academic journey was anything but linear. “Some people know exactly what they want to do, and they just pursue it. And I was never one of those people,” he said. Originally a political science major focused on political philosophy, Alex assumed he was on the path to law school until he realized midway through his first law class that it wasn’t for him. After a five-year detour outside academia, his growing interest in research brought him back.
“I was still interested in how people talk about politics… but not from the how it ought to be, but more trying to understand how it actually was,” he explained. That shift in perspective ultimately led him to Penn’s unique joint PhD program, where he began by studying online political discussions before reevaluating that direction as well.
One turning point came when he realized the limitations of analyzing online discourse: “It’s hard to understand why they are saying it, because the people who communicate online are a very self-selecting group.” That prompted a pivot to studying more universal forms of media and, unexpectedly, to sports. As he explained, “NFL Sunday football has been the most popular show on television for the last 14 years in a row, so maybe we should look at this.” His dissertation ended up examining how televised sports, one of the last remaining genres of media that have cross-partisan appeal, influence American political behavior.
At Duke, Alex will be working closely with the Polarization Lab, where he’s particularly excited about their capacity to experimentally manipulate online social environments. “They’ve built out a mock social media feed that you can manipulate at will and the granularity and the level of control there is crazy,” he said. The potential for experimental research on how people engage with political information in these controlled environments is a key draw.
Alex is also bringing his passion for collaboration to SSRI’s Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology (DISM). “It’s a resource to help others accomplish the projects that they’re interested in,” he said. “That’s one of the things that I enjoyed the most about grad school, helping other people with their projects, which they have their own expertise or excitement or enthusiasm about.”
His own interdisciplinary background, serving as a TA in both political science and communication departments, and drawing methodological tools from each, makes him well-suited to DISM’s cross-disciplinary mission. “You develop this sort of broader set of methodological tools, which I think aligns well,” he noted.
Alongside his collaborative work, Alex is keeping a running list of what he calls “weird methodological issues” subtle but potentially important problems in how political behavior is measured.
As someone who’s embraced a nontraditional path, Alex also offers practical advice for aspiring researchers interested in interdisciplinary work: “Try to narrow your focus,” he said. “The more breadth you have, the harder your life is.” Still, for those drawn to making unexpected connections (like sports and politics) he encourages experimentation and a willingness to let ideas fail.
From political theory to sports media, and from an early pivot away from law to becoming a dual-PhD researcher, Alex Tolkin’s work reflects a deep curiosity and a rigorous approach to understanding the complex world of American political behavior. At SSRI, he’s not only asking tough questions, but he’s also helping others ask better ones too.
Alex is a Postdoctoral Associate with the Duke Initiative on Survey Methodology and the Polarization Lab at Duke. His research focuses on public opinion, survey methodology, and American political behavior.