This study aims to determine the effect of structural racism on cognitive aging. We are looking at many different aspects of structural racism (civics, education, employment, environment, healthcare, income/credit/wealth, media/marketing, neighborhood factors, and policing), and several variables to measure each aspect. We will be acquiring several large data sets that have data from multiple years. We will be linking all these datasets to determine exposure to structural racism based on geographic location in the United States over the years. We will then link this to a longitudinal dataset with participants’ residences over their lifetime as well as measures of cognitive aging. Our analysis will primarily employ Structural Equation Modeling, but we will also conduct factor analyses and psychometric analyses. We will be analyzing each aspect individually, and as part of a larger model.

This project is eligible for a matching fund stipend from the Data Science Institute. This is not a guarantee of payment, and the total amount is subject to available funding.

Faculty Advisor

  • Professor: Paris Adkins-Jackson
  • Center/Lab: Epidemiology
  • Location: Marvin Grey Matter Lab
  • Structural racism & aging lab/family of Dr. AJ Adkins-Jackson. We gather and translate social experiences into data to forge social change.

Project Timeline

  • Earliest starting date: 10/16/2022
  • End date: 6/30/2023
  • Number of hours per week of research expected during Fall 2022: ~10

Candidate requirements

  • Skill sets: Skills required: Online research Excel Attention to detail Descriptive statistics Preferred skills: MPlus Data cleaning SEM
  • Student eligibility: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, master’s
  • International students on F1 or J1 visa: eligible
  • Academic Credit Possible: Yes
  • Additional comments: We will be dealing with data that includes both health data, and potentially identifying information. Therefore, anyone dealing with the data will need to be authorized to do so.