Research Agenda
My research evaluates the cyclical relationship between social measurement of complex identities and policy interventions, particularly related to health (Figure 1 below). My work builds upon the subsection of stratification literature focused on categorical inequality—“the allocation of people to social categories, and the institutionalization of practices that allocate resources unequally across these categories” (Massey 2007:5–6). Specifically, I study how surveys and censuses distinguish individuals across identity groups, how social scientists use these groups to study social inequality, and how these understandings of categorical inequality inform social science theory and policymaking.
Key Terms: social demography; political demography; survey methods; identity (gender/sex, sexuality, race/ethnicity, immigration status)
(For more on categorical inequality, see Massey 2007, Categorically Unequal & Tilly 1998, Durable Inequality)
Research Questions
Arrow 1: How does the process of “quantifying” social identities, like gender, sexuality, and race/ethnicity, affect what we know about categorical inequality?
- Examples:
- Pao, Christina, Katie Donnelly Moran, D′Lane Compton, Gayle Kaufman, and Julie A. Dowling. 2025. “The Case for ‘Other’: Measuring Gender and Sexual Identity in Survey Research.” Sociology Compass 19(1):e70031. doi: 10.1111/soc4.70031.
- Starr, Paul, and Christina Pao. 2024. “The Multiracial Complication: The 2020 Census and the Fictitious Multiracial Boom.” Sociological Science 11:1107–23. doi: 10.15195/v11.a40.
Arrows 2 and 3: What are the consequences of measured categorical inequalities on social science theory and policy interventions, respectively?
- Examples:
- Rajan, Akhil, and Christina Pao. 2022. “Who Has Room for Error? The Effects of Political Scandal for Minority Candidates.” Electoral Studies 77:102460. doi: 10.1016/j.electstud.2022.102460.
- Zang, Emma, Jessica West, Nathan Kim, and Christina Pao. 2021. “U.S. Regional Differences in Physical Distancing: Evaluating Racial and Socioeconomic Divides during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” PLOS ONE 16(11):e0259665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259665.
Arrows 4 and 5: How do social science theory and policy interventions affect data collection processes by national statistical offices?
- Examples:
- Pao, Christina. 2023. “Queering the Census: Demographic Considerations of Adding (and Changing) Questions on Gender and Sexuality.” Writing from Below. (https://writingfrombelow.org/imagining-new-futures/queering-the-census-demographic-considerations-of-adding-and-changing-questions-on-gender-and-sexuality/).