The Cultural Heritage and Racial Identity Lab is comprised of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty scholars committed to the pursuit of scientific knowledge that is intended to eliminate mental health disparities in ethnic minority communities. Research questions we explore are intended to understand protective (e.g., identity and cultural factors) and risk (e.g., racism) factors that play a role in psychological well-being and help-seeking attitudes among ethnic minority individuals. Additionally, through our research, we seek to more fully explore the role of context (especially the racialized U.S. context) in the psychological well-being and development of ethnic minority individuals.
One of the central values of our lab is that of methodological pluralism. In other words, we see the necessity of using different methods and strategies to answer different types of questions. As such, we utilize traditional quantitative methods (e.g., surveys, longitudinal studies, regression analyses, factor analysis, etc.), qualitative methods (e.g., interviews, observations, focus groups and ethnographies), and mixed methods to understand the various phenomena we study.