Professor, Sociology Department; Director, East Asian Studies 社会学教授,东亚研究主任

h.D. Sociology, M.S. Computer Science, University of Minnesota 社会学博士, 计算机信息科学硕士, 明尼苏达大学

Research Interests

Social Stratification, Gender, Quantitative Methods, Life Course, Social Demography, Comparative Studies, Computer Simulation, Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining

Xiaoling Shu’s research focuses on the impacts of two of the most profound events of our times – market transition and globalization – on gender inequalities (both in the labor market and within the family), subjective sense of well-being, and gender, family, marriage, and sexual attitudes. Her analysis is both country specific (China) and cross-national.

Professor Shu’s current book project is on data mining as a multi-disciplinary field at the confluence of statistics, computer science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, database technology, and pattern recognition. With the rise of big data and the enormous wealth of information and knowledge buried in the data mine, using data mining technologies to discover interesting, meaningful, and robust patterns has become increasingly important in the research process. The availability of huge amounts of data provides unprecedented opportunities for new discoveries, as well as challenges. Her book attempts to address these emerging opportunities and challenges.

Expertise in statistical modeling

Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation models, multilevel linear and nonlinear models, cross-classified fixed- & random-effect models (age-cohort-period cross classified fixed- & random-effect models), event history analysis (discrete-time event history analysis & Cox regression), and dynamic modeling (partial adjustment models).

M.S. in Computer Science specializing in Artificial Intelligence, knowledge discovery and data mining.