She takes both quantitative and qualitative approaches to study the intersections of identity, age, mental health, and work/occupations, with a special focus on identity transitions. Her new book, Job Loss, Identity, and Mental Health (Rutgers University Press 2016) examines what losing a job means for people’s identities and how that understanding affects their mental health. Norris has also published in journals such as Symbolic Interaction, Research on Aging, and Teaching Sociology. She lives in La Crosse with her husband and two cats named after sociologists.