WIU professor Chris Carpenter receives prestigious 2025 Meta-Analysis Award

MACOMB/MOLINE, Ill. — Western Illinois University communication professor Chris Carpenter has been named the recipient of the 2025 John E. Hunter Meta-Analysis Research Program Award by the Information Systems Division of the International Communication Association (ICA).

This international award honors Carpenter’s significant contributions to meta-analysis research in the communication field. The ICA Information Systems Division presents this award every other year to a scholar whose work exemplifies excellence in the integration and synthesis of empirical data through meta-analysis.

Carpenter’s work focuses on how people strategically disclose personal information in digital contexts and the psychological mechanisms that influence such behavior. His research offers critical insights into self-presentation, interpersonal communication and the dynamics of digital interaction.

“I’m deeply honored to receive this award, especially because it’s named after John Hunter, who was a pioneer in the field of meta-analysis,” Carpenter said in a press release. “Hunter was one of the people who helped invent the set of statistical techniques known as meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is a method for averaging the relationship between two variables across multiple studies. So, for example, one of my meta-analysis studies examined the effectiveness of adding the phrase ‘but you are free to refuse’ to a small request. That paper found that people are about twice as likely to say yes when you add that phrase. That was based on combining the results of 42 studies. This award was not for any one paper I had written, but for all of the work I had done using meta-analysis and the papers I had written about improving meta-analysis methods. I have published eleven articles using meta-analysis and three articles about meta-analysis techniques. It is a kind of career award for this method. It is called the ‘John E. Hunter Meta-Analysis Research Program Award’ because it covers my entire research program in this area. It is only given out once every two years.”

Carpenter joined WIU in 2010 and has built an international reputation for his innovative scholarship and data-driven approach to communication research. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has mentored both undergraduate and graduate students in research methods and critical inquiry.

The International Communication Association recognized Carpenter’s achievement during its annual conference.

For more information about the WIU Department of Communication, visit wiu.edu/communication.