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Dr. Bethany Shockley’s research agenda explores political attitudes and behavior broadly. She primarily focuses on understanding local governance and women in politics. She has used survey and field experiments to investigate perceptions of female candidates both in Latin America and the Arabian Gulf. She also has active survey experiments related to ethnic voting, migration decision-making, the marriage market, and the consequences of political reform in Qatar.

Academic Positions

  • PresentFall 2014

    Post-doctoral researcher

    Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University

Research Experience

  • 20152014

    Lead Principal Investigator

    The Local Council and Perceptions of Female Candidates

  • June 2015March 2015

    Co-Principal Investigator

    Political Section of the Qatar Quarterly Survey 5th and 6th Waves (telephone survey of Qatari households)

  • PresentSpring 2014

    Collaborating Research Assistant

    Women in Government: An Experimental Study of Attitudes about Governing Ability Women in Government

  • 2014Spring 2012

    Co-Principal Investigator

    the Project for Local Representation

  • Summer 2012Summer 2012

    Research Assistant

    Todd Kent, Texas A&M University in Qatar

  • Responsibilities included: data analysis and editing of manuscripts for publication

Education

  • Ph.D Aug 2014

    Comparative Politics, Political Methodology

    Texas A&M University

  • B.A 2009

    Political Science

    Sam Houston State University

  • Minors: Spanish and History

Honors, Awards and Grants

  • 2015
    Recipient, Best in Category Poster at the Qatar University Research Week

  • 2012
    Recipient, George Bush Presidential Library Foundation Grant

  • 2013
    Recipient, Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Dissertation Enhancement Fellowship

  • 2012
    Recipient, Glasscock Center for Humanities Graduate Student Research Fellowship

  • 2013
    Participant, Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models, University of Houston

  • Research project title: “Local Representation and Elite Incentives: A Theory and Analysis of Mayoral Resource Allocation Strategies with Evidence from Ecuador”

Conference Presentations

  • March 4th, 2016
    Shockley, Bethany and Justin Gengler “Qualification or Affiliation? Revealing Arab Voter Preferences via a Conjoint Experiment” presented at After the Uprising: The Arab World in Freefall, Fragmentation or Reconfiguration? In Princeton, NJ

  • January 12th 2016
    Shockley, Bethany and Michael Ewers “Attracting and Retaining Highly Skilled Expatriates in Qatar During an Era of Uncertainty: Would You Stay or Would You Go?” presented at Migration Dynamics: The Flow of People and Ideas into the Gulf, Abu Dhabi UAE

  • August 4th, 2015
    Shockley, Bethany “Does Continued Centralization Reduce Citizen Support for Government: The Costa Rican Case” presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California

  • March 8th, 2015
    Shockley, Bethany “Moving Forward but Not Catching Up: Woman and Interest in Politics in Qatar” presented at the World Association for Public Opinion Research Regional Conference in Doha, Qatar

  • January 10th, 2015
    Shockley Bethany “Support for Electing Women to the Local Council: A Field Experiment on Gender Attitudes in Qatar” presented at the Winter Experiments in the Social Sciences Institute (WESSI) at New York University in Abu Dhabi, UAE

  • April 4th, 2014
    Shockley, Bethany with Kendall Funk and Maria Escobar-Lemmon “Changing the Way We See Social Services? How Decentralization Changes Satisfaction with Services” presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois

  • August 29th, 2013
    Shockley, Bethany “A Theory of Local Representation: Exploring the Incentives of Local Elected Officials” presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois

  • January 4th, 2013
    Shockley, Bethany “Decentralization and Local Government Responsiveness: Exploring the Role of Participation” presented at the Southern Political Science Association Meeting, Orlando, Florida

  • Sept. 1-4, 2011
    Shockley, Bethany and Michelle Taylor-Robinson, and Maria Escobar-Lemmon on “What Explains Executive Success in the Legislature?: Disaggregating the Executive to Examine Ministers’ Legislative Success in Latin America” Presented at the American Political Science Association Meeting, Seattle, Washington

  • April 1-3, 2011
    Shockley, Bethany “The Decentralization Bargain: A Theory of the Origins and Depth of Decentralization in Latin America” Poster presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

  • April 22-25, 2010
    Shockley, Bethany and Ashley Ross “Testing the Decentralization Thesis: Do Decentralization Reforms Generate Higher Levels of National Participation from the Bottom Up? Evidence from Ecuador” Presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

  • May 28th, 2015
    Presenter at the Qatar University Gulf Studies Center roundtable event: “Qatari Central Municipal Council Elections” (Led discussion of SESRI survey results)

Professional Service

  • August 2013
    Chair, Panel, “The Limits of Participatory Democracy” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting Chicago, Illinois

Professional Memberships

  • American Political Science Association
  • Midwest Political Science Association
  • World Association for Public Opinion Research