Dr. Robert McKeever's specific research interests focus on examining the persuasive effects of mass media content, particularly as applied to pro-social topics such as mental health advocacy. He has more than a dozen published and forthcoming articles in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, and his research has been presented at academic conferences including AEJMC, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the International Association for Media and Communication Research, and the World Association for Public Opinion Research. He has also received top paper awards from more than one division at the annual conference of AEJMC. His research has appeared in a variety of journals including Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Health Communication, Public Relations Review, PLoS ONE, and Mass Communication and Society.
College of Information and Communications
Faculty and Staff
Robert McKeever, Ph.D.
| Title: | Associate Professor |
| Department: | School of Journalism and Mass Communications College of Information and Communications |
| Email: | robert.mckeever@sc.edu |
| Phone: | 803-777-1155 |
| Fax: | 803-777-4103 |
| Office: | School of Journalism and Mass Communications 800 Sumter Street, Room 304 Columbia, SC 29208 |
| Resources: | Curriculum Vitae |
Follow @DoctorMcKeever
Education
B.A.. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A., Gonzaga University
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research
Teaching
McKeever teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in quantitative research methods, experimental design, media and society, mass communication theory, and health communication. He has also co-instructed faculty-led study abroad courses in Cuba, as well as several independent research studies.
McKeever’s work with Ph.D. students has led to publications and top paper awards for the student at AEJMC. His advisees have included the SJMC’s inaugural Baldwin Business Graduate Fellow (Dr. Mark Tatge), the school’s first SPARC Graduate Research Grant recipient, Dr. Jane Weatherred (Assistant Professor, University of Southern Indiana), and Dr. Nanlan Zhang (Assistant Professor, Chongqing University).
Recent Grants
McKeever, R., Jun, J., Kim, J.K., Wikersham, K., Robertson, B., Noland, C., Ciccarelli, C. “Identifying optimal visual narratives to impact colorectal cancer risk awareness and screenings among African-American men.” Grant awarded for 2022–2023 from the Colorectal Cancer Prevention Network (CCPN) at the University of South Carolina College of Arts and Sciences
Mohammadi, E. McKeever, R., McKeever, B.W. “Detecting and investigating COVID-19 misleading information on YouTube.” Grant awarded in 2020 from the University of South Carolina Office of the Vice President for Research.
McKeever, B.W., McKeever, R., Choi, M. “Construction and validation of new scales for advocacy and activism.” Grant awarded for 2019–2020 from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication.
Karami, A., McKeever, R., McKeever, B.W., Turner-McGrievy, B. “Detecting and characterizing health posts of malicious actors on Twitter.” Collaborative grant awarded for 2019–2020 by the USC College of Information & Communication.
Wen, J.T., McKeever, R. “Combating misinformation on childhood vaccination: empowering parents to manage conflicting health information online." Collaborative grant awarded for 2018–2019 from the University of South Carolina Office of the Vice President for Research.
Recent Publications
Waddell, T.F., Overton, H., & McKeever, R. (2022). Does sample source matter for theory? Testing model invariance with the influence of presumed influence model across Amazon Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics Panels. Computers in Human Behavior. 107416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107416
Pressgrove, G.N., McKeever, R., & Collins, E.L. (2021). Effectiveness of persuasive frames in advocacy videos. Public Relations Review. 47(4), 102060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102060
Li, J.Y., Wen, T.J., McKeever, R., & Kim, J.K. (2021). Uncertainty and negative emotions in parental decision-making on childhood vaccinations: Extending the theory of planned behavior to the context of conflicting health information. 26 (4), 215–224. Journal of Health Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2021.1913677
Jones-Jang, S. M., Heo, Y., McKeever, R., Kim, J.K., Moscowitz, L., & Moscowitz, D. (2020). Good news! Communication findings may be underestimated: Comparing effect sizes with self-reported and logged smartphone data. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 25(5), 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaa009
McKeever, B. W., McKeever, R., Pressgrove, G., & Overton, H. (2019). Predicting public support: applying theory to prosocial behaviors. Journal of Communication Management. 23(4), 298–315. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcom-02-2019-0030
Jang, S. M., McKeever, B.W., McKeever, R., & Kim, J. K. (2019). From social media to mainstream news: the information flow of the vaccine-Autism controversy in the US, Canada, and the UK. Health Communication. 34(1), 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2017.1384433
Service
Journal Reviewer, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Health Communication, Science Communication, Health Communication, Asian Journal of Communication, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, and International Journal of Health Policy and Management.
Editorial Board Member, Journal of Media Critiques
Conference Co-Chair, AEJMC Midwinter Conference, Mass Communication and Society Division
Awards Committee Chair, Mass Communication and Society Division of AEJMC
Research Committee Member, Mass Communication and Society Division of AEJMC
Director, Science and Health Communication Research Group, University of South Carolina
Graduate Council Member, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of South Carolina