Her research uncovers mechanisms and builds theories about how social class inequality is experienced, reproduced, and alleviated. Her book, The Power of the Past: Understanding Cross-Class Marriages, builds a theory of how love crosses class lines, uncovers a new way that culture systematically varies by class, and demonstrates that the class does not come out of the person after the person comes out of the class. Her articles illuminate how childrearing strategies vary by parents' class background, how four-year-old children engage in class reproduction, how movies portray social class inequality, and how culture facilitates social mobility.