An Interview with Researcher, Dr. Brian Ragsdale

1.  Please briefly describe your current research

My current research examines social media responses to diversity and racism, and my other line of research explores in which ways does racism impact parent racial socialization processes with their children. 

2.  How did you come to be in this area of study?

I have been interested in how different cultural groups think about, feel, and respond to pain. Experiencing Racism is a painful experience for people of color, and there are different coping strategies coping with stress related to race and to traumatic experiences related to racism.  I am interested in how identity relates to coping strategies.  For example, in my master’s research I explored White racial identity and crying experiences and whether they differed across families.  For my dissertation, I explored how racism impacted meaning in life among Black college students on a predominately White college campus. In both studies, I examine how identity relates to racism and its impact on emotional and social development. 

3. What do like best about doing research?
I like conducting the literature reviews, and analyzing the data. 


4. What do you dislike the most about doing research?

The time it takes from start to finish, and the twists and turns the publishing process might take. 

5. Advice for new researchers who would like to be published?
I would suggest publishing first at local and statewide conferences. Become a joiner.  Presenting talks on panels and preparing posters are good places to gain initial feedback on your ideas. Then making the transition from poster to a paper is a little bit easier.  My second suggestion is to keep going and to develop connections with other researchers, and one day they may ask you to be a part of their study or vice versa. 

Gross, I., Goldner, J., Richards, M., & Ragsdale, B. (2015). The Relation of Severity and Type of Community Violence Exposure to Emotional Distress and Problem Behaviors among Urban African American Adolescents, Violence and Victims, 30 (3), 432-449. 

Mandara, J., Gaylord-Harden, N., Richards, M., & Ragsdale, B. L. (2009). The Effects of Changes in Racial Identity and Self Esteem on Changes in African American Adolescents’ Mental Health, Child Development, 80 (6), 1660-1675. 

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Ragsdale, B. L., Mandara, J., Richards, M. H., & Petersen, A. C. (2007). Perceived support and internalizing symptoms in African American adolescents: Self-esteem and ethnic identity as mediators. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36 (1), 77-88. doi:10.1007/s10964-006-9115-9. 

Vasquez, M., Lott, B., García-Vázquez, E., Grant, S. K., Iwamasa, G, Molina, L. E., Ragsdale, B. L., and Vestal-Dowdy, E. (2006). Personal Reflections: Barriers and Strategies in Increasing Diversity in Psychology. American Psychologist, 61 (2), 157-172.