Research

My research interests are at the intersection of race, organizations, inequality, poverty, and health.

Research Experience

As a Research Assistant (2020-2021) with the Institute for Research on Poverty, I studied the association between parental incarceration and children’s cardiovascular health. Following extensive reviews of the literature, I produced a first-authored scoping review, currently under review, that reports findings from 15 years of research on this association. (race, inequality, poverty, health)

As a Quantitative Research Assistant (2019-2020), I worked with Prof. John Eason on trying to understand factors contributing to the likelihood of prison building. I worked extensively on both data-cleaning and coding within STATA as well as conducted basic data analysis to support preparation of the manuscript. (race, organizations, inequality)

Under the supervision of Prof. Randy Stoecker (2018-2020), I conducted qualitative research on how individuals become involved in mutual aid work. This involved identifying, analyzing, and coding a variety of mutual aid organizations. Relatedly, Prof. Stoecker and I collaborated on a community based project that used our empirical findings from a paper to support Black-led organizations in their day-to-day operations including how to incorporate data analytics in their work. (race, organizations, inequality)

From 2014-2016 I was Junior Fellow in the Urban Ethnography Project at Yale University. As a Fellow, I took part in conferences and workshops that allowed me to hone foundational qualitative inquiry skills that helped in preparation for eventual doctoral study. I used these skills to prepare and revise manuscripts resulting from my master’s paper. (race, inequality, poverty)

While at the University of Chicago Survey Lab as Social Science Researcher (2012-2013), I conducted ethnographic and survey research on how historically excluded individuals gain access to health assets within their neighborhoods. Focusing on 5 neighborhoods on Chicago’s Southside, we found that residents lacked knowledge and awareness of resources in their neighborhoods, which forced them to travel long distances to meet basic everyday needs. We used the information to create individualized CommunityRx that helped facilitate access to localized resources. (race, organizations, inequality, poverty, health)

Academic Presentations

I have been fortunate to present my research at the American Sociological Annual Meetings (2019, 2020, and 2021); Chicago Ethnography Conferences; Northwestern University; and Yale University.

Papers Currently Under Review

Wilson, Gregory D. and Stoecker, Randy. (under-review). “Not-Profiting, but Persisting: Black-led Organizations in the Racialized Nonprofit Industrial Complex.”

Wilson, Gregory D. (under-review). “All Cities Matter: Toward a More Inclusive and Dynamic Urbanism.”

Wilson, Gregory D. and Meghan Bellarose. (under-review). “Parental Incarceration and Children’s Cardiovascular Health.”

Working Papers

Eason, John and Wilson, Gregory D. (working paper). “From Plantation to Prison: Tracing the Roots of Penal Privatization.”

Wilson, Gregory D. (working paper). “The Development of Efficacious Attitudes in Urban Neighborhoods.”

Wilson, Gregory D. (working paper). “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Barriers to Neighborhood Change.”

Papers in Preparation

Wilson, Gregory D. (in-preparation). “he Sociology of Nonprofit Organizations in Urban Communities.”

Wilson, Gregory D. (in-preparation). “The Challenges of Creative Place-Making: An Ethnographic Analysis.”