Joseph O. Baker is a Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at East Tennessee State University, and the former editor of Sociology of Religion.

His primary areas of research are religion, deviance, and politics. Much of his work uses quantitative analysis, but he has also extensively used qualitative methods including ethnography, interviews, and content analysis for research.

He has published research on a wide range of topics, including intensive religious experiences, different types of secularity, paranormal subcultures, public views of science and religion, beliefs about supernatural evil, Christian nationalism, and xenophobia.

He is the author of four books: American Secularism (NYU Press), Paranormal America (NYU Press), Deviance Management: Insiders, Outsiders, Hiders, and Drifters (University of California Press), and Fear Itself: The Causes and Consequences of Fear in America (NYU Press).