Research

Social Sciences

Current Projects

OXNARD THRIVING YOUTH STUDY (2023-Present)

The multi-method, community-engaged study will investigate the social conditions that shape the educational trajectories and employment prospects of Oxnard, California, youth, with a focus on those whose families work in agricultural and other low-wage industries.

Latina Futures 2050 Lab (2022-present)

In collaboration with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, in 2022 the CSRC launched the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, which will investigate Latinas’ experiences in the labor market, their participation in civic leadership, and their well-being.

California Freedom Summer (2021-Present)

California Freedom Summer (CFS), a participatory-action research project, aims to promote youths’ leadership in their own communities; strengthen linkages among high schools, community colleges, and the UC system; enhance the capacity of civic engagement organizations; increase voter turnout in high poverty communities; and contribute to research on youths’ civic engagement as their communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

Completed Projects

Latinos and Economic Security (2005-2019)

Latinos and Economic Security (LES) is a national research project, funded by the Ford Foundation, with a goal to advance economic security for middle-age and aging Latinos by advocating, developing, and fostering a public policy agenda that prioritizes the needs of the Latino community.
 

The Smithsonian Institution and Latino Representation (2018)

An analysis of the Smithsonian Institution’s progress toward implementing the ten recommendations from its 1994 report Willful Neglect pertaining to Latino representation within the Institution's workforce, programming, collections, and exhibitions.

Hate Speech in the Media (2008-2013)

The Hate Speech in the Media Project is a pilot study on hate speech on commercial talk radio. Its goal is to develop a research methodology for the quantitative evaluation of hate speech.
 

Mexican American Study Project (2003-2008)

The Mexican American Study Project is a study on intra- and inter-generational change and persistence in ethnic identity and behavior as well as socio-economic mobility among Mexican Americans in Los Angeles and San Antonio.
 

Brown-Collar Occupations in Local Labor Markets (2002-2004)

This project utilized 1990 Census Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data on large, immigrant-receiving metropolitan areas to illuminate the earnings attainment process in brown-collar occupations (where immigrant Latinos concentrate).
 

Maquiladora Murders Project (2002-2004)

This project resulted in a brief, novel, and three-day international conference, "The Maquiladora Murders, Or, Who Is Killing the Women of Juárez?", held in Fall 2003.
 

UCLA Latino Policy Studies (SCR-43) Research Projects (2002-2009)

Cross disciplinary, policy-relevant research projects on Chicana/o and Latina/o issues in California.