Richie Li
Senior Researcher
SPA | Department of Research
Degrees
Ph.D. in Sociology
Bio
I am an award-winning social scientist with three research tracks: as a trained sociologist and political scientist, I study religious nationalism. Most of my work focuses on how Americans imagine a "Christian nation" in fundamentally different ways and how different versions of Christian nationalism are rooted in different religious, political, social psychological, and demographic contexts. I also study public religion—how religion influences public life in general. My ambition is to understand when religion is a positive factor and when it is a negative factor for a multicultural and healthy liberal democracy, and most importantly, why.
As a survey methodologist with eight years of experience, I am interested in designing and testing methodologically rigorous items and scales for social surveys, helping scholars and the public measure and understand cultural and social change. I am also a diehard supporter of better and more transparent practices in sociology of religion and social science in general.
At PERIL I design and develop evidence-based approaches—including social surveys, survey experiments, GIS mapping, and focus groups—to prevent and reduce hate crimes, radicalization, and online extremism, such as antisemitism, male supremacy, and gender-based violence.
My publication (peer review articles and book reviews) appears on top sociology journals like the American Journal of Sociology (book review), Social Forces, Socius, Politics and Religion, and the Journal for Scientific Study of Religion.
