Robert K. Goidel

Kirby Goidel is a professor in the Department of Communication and the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University. Previously, he was the Scripps Howard Professor of Mass Communication and a Professor of Political Science at Louisiana State University. He is a co-editor of the journal Survey Practice, sponsored by the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR); the co-author of two books, Money Matters: Consequences of Campaign Finance Reform in U.S. House Elections (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999) and The States of the Campaign Finance Reform (Ohio State University Press, 2003); and the editor of Political Polling in a Digital Age (Louisiana State University Press, 2011), a collection of essays exploring the future of public opinion research in light of technological changes and increasingly difficult to reach populations. He has published over 30 articles in a wide range of political science and mass communication journals, including Public Opinion Quarterly, American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, Social Science Quarterly, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, and the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.

He received his PhD from the University of Kentucky in 1993 and has taught previously at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Indiana State University, where he also served as department chair. At Indiana State University, he wrote an editorial column for the Terre Haute Tribune Star, including a Hoosier State Press Award winning column written in the aftermath of 9/11. At LSU, he has contributed as a blogger for Patchwork Nation (currently sponsored by the Jefferson Institute and formerly sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor), served as a guest host and contributing partner on the statewide public affairs program Louisiana Public Square, is a regular guest on local talk radio programs, and is a widely quoted source for news stories on politics.