Dr. Megan Stubbs-Richardson Assistant Research Professor, Social Science Research Center
Megan Stubbs-Richardson received her Ph.D. in Sociology in December 2018 at Mississippi State University, while also serving as a Research Associate at the University’s Social Science Research Center. Her primary areas of study include Criminology and Social Psychology, with a research emphasis on gendered violence and victimization, adolescent victimization, and both the pro-social and anti-social uses of social media to either support or blame victims of crime. Megan received a M.S. degree in Sociology in 2014 from Mississippi State University, where she also graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. degree in Psychology in 2011. Her master’s thesis investigated the impact of individual-level and contextual-level factors on general, violent, and property recidivism among juveniles.
Beginning her research career in 2008 at the Social Science Research Center, Megan has contributed to and gained experience with a variety of social science research pursuits. She has collaborated extensively with sociologists, psychologists, and computer scientists applying a broad spectrum of methodologies and statistical analysis techniques. Megan has led research efforts including: examining social media as it relates to high school sexual assault cases, investigating adolescents’ online experiences with sexual victimization, and using social robots to elicit information from children about bullying. Megan is currently working with Dr. Arthur Cosby on social media related projects and is a member of the Social Media Tracking and Analysis System team. Her most recent research efforts examine adolescent’s use of social media, including their experiences with various types of online and offline victimization as well as public discussions of crime cases or crime-related policies (e.g., sexual assault campaigns and policy changes) in social media. Megan is very committed to and enthusiastic about research. She values employing unique methods and methodology to understand victimization experiences.