Curriculum Vitae
Education
Ph.D. Sociology, University of California, Davis (expected 2020)
Dissertation: “Deadly Decisions: Policing Organizations, Use of Force Policies, and Officer-Involved Shootings”
Dissertation Committee: Ryken Grattet (Chair), Chris Smith, Bill McCarthy, Tom Beamish
M.A. Sociology, University of Wyoming (2011)
M.A. Thesis: "Kids and Guns: The Impact of Children and Parenthood on Adult Support for Gun Control"
B.S. Sociology, Montana State University (2008)
B.A. History, Montana State University (2008)
Areas of Expertise
Criminology, policing, firearm violence, social network analysis, policy analysis, quantitative analysis, sociology of complex organizations
Public Scholarship
Evans, Ethan J., and Matthew J. Thompson. 2019. "Questions and Answers from Research Centers on Gun Violence." Health and Social Work 44(4):221-223.
Smith, Chris M., and Matthew J. Thompson. 2019. “How California is Leading the Way in Gathering and Publicizing Data on the Use of Force by Police.” Scholars Strategy Network, March 14.
Thompson, Matthew J., and Chris M. Smith. 2017. “Citizen Science and Crowdsourced Data Collection, not Government Statistics, Provide the Most Reliable Count of Citizen Fatalities by Police.” The London School of Economics Public Policy Group. USAPP American Politics and Policy Blog, May 5.
Manuscripts in Progress
Thompson, Matthew J. "Peer Review: Competing Processes of Peer Selection Among U.S. Colleges and Universities.”
Thompson, Matthew J. “Organizational Variation in California Police Departments’ Rates of Fatal and Non-Fatal Force.” [Working paper for dissertation]
Thompson, Matthew J. “Deadly Decisions: Policing Organizations, Use of Force Policies, and Officer-Involved Fatalities among the 100 Largest US Police Departments.” [Working paper for dissertation]
Thompson, Matthew J. “The Standard Template: Content and Similarities in California Law Enforcement Agencies’ Use of Force Policies.” [Working paper for dissertation]
Smith, Chris M., and Matthew J. Thompson. "Race, Violence, and Threat: California Police Use of Force." [Working Paper]