She studies campaigns and elections, with an emphasis on how candidate behavior affects voters. Vavreck has also done considerable research on campaign advertising, politics and the media, and how the state of the economy affects elections. She has been involved in a major field study exploring the effectiveness of political advertising and is working on a book about modern presidential politics. Vavreck has been quoted frequently on a wide variety of issues, including local and national politics, presidential politics, primaries, campaign contributions, elections and media coverage.