The EVPOC (Elections, Values, and Political Communication) Research Group investigates the short- and long-term change in citizens’ political attitudes, behaviors, and values. It seeks to improve our understanding of how public opinion is forged and how political behavior is formed through the interaction between societal structures (and their change), individuals’ predispositions and attitudes, and changes in the content, usage, and processing of public communication. To that end, it uses a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodologies with foci on survey experiments and manual as well as automated content analysis. 

• Elections: Elections are a crystallization point in which communication and opinion formation densify and intensity, making it a major occasion for studying political behavior and political communication. EVPOC studies elections in Norway and internationally, studying voter behavior and its causes, media content and media influence in campaigns, and campaigning activities and strategies of political parties. 
• Values: Values are at the heart of political ideologies and individual belief and attitude systems that affect political behavior and shape public opinion. EVPOC studies value structures and value change, e.g. by contributing to the European Values Study
• Political Communication: The fundamental and swift changes in citizens’ information environments has changed the patterns of information selection and exposure and the set of players involved in public opinion formation processes. In that vein, EVPOC studies social effects of politics-centered communication and campaigns on citizens. 

The research group meets regularly about every third week during the semester to discuss current research in the field, both conducted by group members and external guests. Everyone who is interested is welcome to join our meetings. For more information about the current schedule, please contact the research group leader.