Deborah Carr

Research Areas: Aging; the life course; psychosocial factors influences on health; end-of-life issues

Deborah Carr is a Professor of Sociology. She is a life course sociologist who uses survey data and quantitative methods to study social factors linked with health and well-being in later life. She has written extensively on death and dying, bereavement, family relationships over the life course, and the stigma associated with health conditions including obesity and disability. She has published more than 100 articles and chapters, and several books including Golden Years? Social Inequality in Later Life (Russell Sage, 2019) and Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How to Bounce Back (Rutgers University Press, 2014), as well as several co-authored textbooks including Introduction to Sociology and The Art and Science of Social Research (both with W. W. Norton). She is also co-editor of the Handbook of Aging & Social Sciences, 9th ed. (Elsevier, 2021). She was editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (2015-20), and is principal investigator of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). Dr. Carr is on the Board of Directors of the Population Association of America, and has served as chair of the sections on Aging & the Life Course and Medical Sociology of the American Sociological Association. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and a member of the honorary Sociological Research Association. Her work is featured in national media including The New York Times, USA Today, public television, and other sources.

Selected Publications:
Golden Years? Social Inequality in Later Life (Russell Sage Foundation, 2019)

“Is Death ‘The Great Equalizer’? The Social Stratification of Death Quality in the Contemporary United States” in The ANNALS: American Academy of Political and Social Research 663, 2016.

Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How to Bounce Back (Rutgers University Press, 2014).

“Racial Differences in End-of-Life Planning: Why Don’t Blacks and Latinos Prepare for the Inevitable?” in Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying 63, 2011.

Carr, Deborah and Eun Ha Namkung.  In press. “Physical Disability at Work: How Functional Limitation Affects Perceived Discrimination and Interpersonal Relationships in the Workplace” Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Carr, Deborah, Lucie Kalousova, Katherine Lin, and Sarah Burgard. In Press.“Occupational Differences in Advance Care Planning: Are Medical Professionals More Likely to Plan?” Social Science & Medicine.

For a detailed academic bio and CV, please see Professor Carr’s Department Profile.