Her research focuses on domestic determinants of foreign policy, U.S. foreign policy, transnationalism and international migration, democracy promotion and democratization, Middle East politics and experimental methods. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, the Europe Center and the Laboratory for the Study of American Values at Stanford University. Prather's work has appeared in several blogs and sites, including The Washington Post blog The Monkey Cage, The World Bank blog Development Impact, An Africanist Perspective, ThinkProgress, as well as chrisblattman.com and the Center for Global Development.