Benjamin Smith is a researcher at the University of California-Santa Barbara's Department of Communication and Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies. He is an experienced social research expert, specialising in quantitative methods, marketing and market research. He has consulted as a statistics expert on numerous evaluations including the Manchester Science Festival in the UK.

His recent research has focused on quantitative research methodology in the context of big data and public attitudes measurement, including publications in journals such as Public Understanding of Science and Public Opinion Quarterly. His previous degrees are in communication and public relations. While broadly focused on public opinion and mass media, Benjamin's research has covered a wide variety of theoretical and contextual ground. His research has ranged from developing a synthesized model for predicting U.S. elections, based in part on Wikipedia page views, to a critical review of the UK's 2015 Public Attitudes to Science survey. In addition to his ongoing research related to science and political communication, Benjamin currently leads the Media Constructions of Terrorism project at the Orfalea Center, exploring the media's role in constructing public understandings of terrorism and extremism.