Bio

Christina Pao earned her Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy with a certificate in population studies from Princeton University (2026). Prior to doctoral training, she completed an M.Phil. in Sociology and Demography from the University of Oxford (2022) and a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Yale University (2020). She is also a 2019 Truman Scholar and a 2020 Rhodes Scholar.

Research

Substantive research interests: social demography, survey methods, race, gender, sexuality

Department cluster: Institutions and Inequality; Population and Health

Research overview: Dr. Pao’s work sits at the intersection of the sociology of social categories, social demography, and the survey sciences. More specifically, she focuses on how methodological decisions for collecting sociodemographic data impact our substantive understanding of health inequality, population composition, and public policy. She primarily draws on original survey data collection and secondary analyses of large-scale national surveys and has been working on methodological interventions in demography related to AI and machine learning.

Teaching

SOCY 310: Social Demography

SOCY 598: Limits to Prediction, AI, and Machine Learning

Selected Publications

Pao, Christina, and Fumiya Uchikoshi. 2026. “Evaluating Gradational Gender Scales in a Japanese Sample: Nonresponse Rates and Response Distributions for Self-Rated Masculinity and Femininity.” Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences 8:1–20. doi:10.5964/miss.18677.

Budnick, Jamie, Christina Pao, and Kristopher Velasco. 2025. “Queer Data for Sociologists of Sexualities: Introducing SOGIESC Measurement and Methods During Political Suppression.” Sex & Sexualities 3033371251329931. doi: 10.1177/3033371251329931.

Pao, Christina, Christopher A. Julian, D’Lane Compton, Danya Lagos, and Lawrence Stacey. 2025. “Demographic Differences in Responses to a Two-Step Gender Identity Measure.” Sociological Science 12:277–93. doi:10.15195/v12.a13.

Pao, Christina, Katie Donnelly Moran, D′Lane Compton, Gayle Kaufman, and Julie A. Dowling. 2025. “The Case for ‘Other’: Measuring Gender and Sexual Identity in Survey Research.” Sociology Compass 19(1):e70031. doi: 10.1111/soc4.70031.

Starr, Paul, and Christina Pao. 2024. “The Multiracial Complication: The 2020 Census and the Fictitious Multiracial Boom.” Sociological Science 11:1107–23. doi: 10.15195/v11.a40.

Wong, Jaclyn S., Lauren Valentino, Christina Pao, Katie Donnelly Moran, D’Lane Compton, and Gayle Kaufman. 2024. “What to Do with ‘Other, Describe.’” Sociological Methodology 00811750241304774. doi: 10.1177/00811750241304774.

Rajan, Akhil, and Christina Pao. 2022. “Who Has Room for Error? The Effects of Political Scandal for Minority Candidates.” Electoral Studies 77:102460. doi: 10.1016/j.electstud.2022.102460