Prof. Tamir Sheafer is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Department of Communication and Journalism.
He is the dean of the faculty of social sciences.
Prof. Sheafer’s research centers on the interaction between media and politics. In particular, his research is focused on two general areas:
The first is an actor’s-centered analysis of the interaction between political actors and the political communication arena. His interest in this area of studies stems from the recognition that while many scholars have focused their attention at the characteristics of the political communication arena, much less is known about the relevant characteristics of the main actors in the arena: politicians. His studies in this area look at actor-related changes in the political and political communication arenas (e.g., political personalization) and their effects on actors’ performance; at the role of actor-related characteristics in the competition over the political communication arena (e.g., charisma; affective priming); and at the ways in which politicians process information and turn it into policy. Sheafer’s main contributions to the literature in this field are the conceptualizations and operationalizations of the various facets of political personalization (e.g., Balmas and Sheafer,2013; Rahat and Sheafer, 2007; Van Aelst, Sheafer and Stanyer, 2012) and of politicians’ charismatic skills (e.g., Sheafer, 2001).
The second area of research in which Prof. Sheafer is very active in recent years is that of frame building in the international arena, which is the central component of international actors’ mediated public diplomacy. His main contribution to literature in this field is the conceptualization and operationalization of proximity between international actors at various dimensions—notably value and political-related dimensions—and the role proximity in frame building in the international arena (e.g., Sheaferand Shenhav, 2009; Sheafer, Shenhav, Takens, and van Atteveldt, forthcoming). Sheafer’s studies are among the first to empirically asses frame contests (e.g., Sheafer and Gabay, 2009) and the relative and dynamic nature of proximity in the international arena (e.g., Sheafer, Ben-Nun Bloom, Shenhav, and Segev, forthcoming; Sheafer, Shenhav, Takens, and van Atteveldt, forthcoming)
Prof. Sheafer’s methodological approach is quantitative, comparative (temporal and spatial), and including analyses of ‘big data’, which are based on large scaled automated content analysis.
Professor Sheafer serves on the editorial boards of Political Communication, Public Opinion Quarterly, The International Journal of Public Opinion Research, and Media Frames (in Hebrew). His research has appeared in leading journals such as Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Political Communication, Public Opinion Quarterly, The International Journal of Public Opinion Research, International Journal of Press/Politics; Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Comparative Political Studies, Political Psychology and Journal of Peace Research, and Journalism.