Smith is an interpretive sociologist and social psychologist. His interests include the self and identity, deviance, religion and secularity, and qualitative methods. He has published over twenty research articles, book chapters, book reviews, and other papers in journals including the Sociology of Religion, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociological Quarterly, Qualitative Sociology, and Journal of Religion and Health. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Secularism and Nonreligion.