Now and in the near future my research agenda is focused on answering three inter-related questions: Do cultural processes such as individualization and globalization erode the legitimacy of social institutions (such as the welfare state, political parties, scientific and judicial institutions etcetera)?; How do these processes lead to the formation of new cultures, traditions, and institutions (rising populism, changing welfare cultures, religious revival among the young, etcetera)?And, what are the consequences of these cultural changes for social behavior and interaction (political- and science communication, social conformity, etcetera)?
I consider myself to be a sociologist with a strong focus on the combination of theory with empirical facts. Having neither a strong preference for either qualitative or quantitative research, my specialty surely lies within the field of the latter. Recently I’ve started to use survey experiments on nationally representative samples.