Audience Tools

Specializations

  • Health communication
  • Information processing
  • Misinformation

Research Areas

Biography

Yiwei Xu (Ph.D., 2023, Cornell University) is a postdoctoral scholar at the UW Center for an Informed Public (CIP). Her research focuses on examining and developing theory-driven communication strategies that address persistent and emergent public health challenges (e.g., racial disparities, vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, gun violence, etc.), with the goal of promoting evidence-based policies and health equity. She conducts experiments, surveys, and content analysis by incorporating computational pipelines (e.g., web experiment, supervised machine learning, and digital trace data) to study strategic health communication. Dr. Xu's dissertation was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Education

  • Ph D, Communication, Cornell University, 2023
  • MA, Communication, Clemson University, 2018
  • BA, Advertising, Shanghai Normal University, 2016

Awards

  • The Anson E. Rowe Advanced Graduate Student Award - Cornell University Department of Communication, 2022
  • Graduate Fellowship - Cornell University Department of Communication, 2018
  • Master’s Degree Candidate Outstanding Researcher Award - Clemson University College of Behavioral, Social & Health Sciences, 2018
  • Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award - Clemson University Department of Communication, 2018
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Award - Clemson University Department of Communication, 2018
  • Outstanding Graduate of Shanghai - Ministry of Education of Shanghai, 2016

Publications and Contributions

  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Collective information seeking during a health crisis: Predictors of Google Trends during COVID-19 (2023)
    Health Communication Authors: Yiwei Xu, D. Margolin
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Politicizing masks? Examining the volume and content of local news coverage of face coverings in the U.S. through the COVID-19 pandemic (2023)
    Political Communication Authors: M. Neumann, S. Moore, L.M. Baum, P. Oleinikov, Yiwei Xu, J. Niederdeppe, S.E. Gollust, E.F. Fowler
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Local TV news coverage of racial disparities in COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, March-June 2020 (2022)
    Race and Social Problems, 15(Unknown Issue), pp. 201-213 Authors: Yiwei Xu, E.K. Farkouh, C.A. Dunetz, S.L. Varanasi, S. Matthews, S.E. Gollust, E.F. Fowler, S. Moore, N.A. Lewis, J. Niederdeppe
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Evidence of heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of narrative effects on transportation and counterarguing across three independent samples (2021)
    International Journal of Communication, 15(Unknown Issue), pp. 5135-5157 Authors: Yiwei Xu, L.B. Winett, J. Niederdeppe
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Evidence-based message strategies to increase public support for state investment in early childhood education: Results from a longitudinal panel experiment. (2021)
    The Milbank Quarterly, 99(4), pp. 1088-1131 Authors: J. Niederdeppe, L.B. Winett, Yiwei Xu, E.F. Fowler, S.E. Gollust
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Testing strategies to increase source credibility through strategic message design in the context of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy (2021)
    Health Communication, 36(11), pp. 1354-1367 Authors: Yiwei Xu, D. Margolin, J. Niederdeppe
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    When “tried and true” advocacy strategies backfire: Narrative messages can undermine state legislator support for early childcare policies. (2021)
    The Journal of Public Interest Communications, 5(1), pp. 45-45 Authors: L.B. Winett, J. Niederdeppe, Yiwei Xu, S.E. Gollust, E.F. Fowler
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Framing use of force: An analysis of news organizations’ social media posts about police shootings (2019)
    Electronic News, 13(2), pp. 93-107 Authors: E. Ash, Yiwei Xu, A. Jenkins, C. Kumanyika

Presentations

  • Promoting teen pregnancy prevention: An analysis of social media content strategy over 5 years. (2023)
    73rd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Toronto, ON
  • Choice complicates protection: Effects of inoculation messages on audiences’ selective exposure to counterattitudinal messages and subsequent persuasive outcomes. (2022)
    108th annual conference of the National Communication Association (NCA) - New Orleans, LA
  • Google searches for COVID-information: When, where and what. (2022)
    72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Paris, France
  • Local TV news coverage of racial disparities in COVID-19 impacts in the US during the first wave of the pandemic, March-June 2020 (2022)
    72nd annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Paris, France
  • The application of relational model in scientific information processing on social media. (2022)
    108th annual conference of the National Communication Association (NCA) - New Orleans, LA
  • Evidence of heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of narrative effects on transportation and counterarguing: Three replications with three different populations. (2021)
    71st annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Denver, CO
  • Testing strategies to increase source credibility through strategic message design in the context of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy. (2020)
    70th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Gold Coast, Australia
  • The role of social distance in narrative persuasion for risk prevention (2019)
    102nd annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) - Toronto, ON
  • Framing use of force: An analysis of news organizations’ social media posts about police shootings (2018)
    Paper presented at the 68th annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) - Prague, Czech Republic
  • Media framing effects of public service announcements about the HPV vaccine (2017)
    100th annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) - Chicago, IL