Pengfei Zhao
Dr. Zhao has an interdisciplinary background in inquiry methodology, sociology, and cultural studies. In her theoretical and methodological work, she draws from a wide spectrum of theories鈥攆rom critical theories to contemporary pragmatism, feminism, and post-colonial studies鈥攖o formulate a praxis- and social justice-oriented qualitative research methodology. She develops scholarship on critical ethnography, feminist and narrative methodology, and critical multilingual research methodology. She addresses key methodological issues in the tradition of critical qualitative methodologies such as validity, ethics, and translation. Her writing responds to the ontological, epistemological, ethical, and methodological challenges of conducting qualitative research in a politically troubled and culturally diverse contemporary world.
In her empirical work, she uses both Mandarin Chinese and English to perform research in North America, China, and the cross-Pacific transnational context. She is particularly interested in children鈥檚 and youth鈥檚 identity formation鈥攖he gendered and racialized process of socialization, and the various dynamics within and beyond families and communities in perpetuating and/or disrupting the reproduction of social inequality.
