Her primary research interests are social stratification, gender, cultural values, families, Chinese society, and environmental sociology. She is the author of Childrearing Values in the United States and China: A Comparison of Belief Systems and Social Structure (Praeger Publishers, 2001) and published widely on topics such as values, social class, gender, and human rights. One of her current research projects focuses on the impact of China’s regional economic development policies on water resource management practices in the Yellow River loess plateau. She also continues her research interest in parental values, with a focus on the single child policy and its effect on family relations in China.