Brian L. McPhail

Brian L. McPhail

PhD in Sociology

Hi! I earned a PhD in sociology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. My research interests include religion, family, health, and East Asia. My dissertation examines the ecological effects of religion on population health and mortality in mainland China. My research also investigates topics associated with religious diversity, religious ecology, and interreligious families.

Most recently, I was a graduate student instructor in the Purdue University Department of Sociology, a research assistant at the Center on Religion and the Global East, and an editorial assistant for the Review of Religion and Chinese Society.

Download my CV.

Interests
  • Religion
  • Health
  • Family
  • East Asia
  • Quantitative Methods
Education

  • PhD in Sociology, 2022

    Purdue University

  • MS in Sociology, 2018

    Purdue University

  • MA in Theology & Crosscultural Studies, 2010/2013

    Fuller Theological Seminary

  • BA in Sociology/Psychology, 2005

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Publications

Evan K. Perrault, Brian L. McPhail (2023). Physicians Disclosing Religion in Online Biographies: Patient Perceptions and Decision-Making in the United States. Journal of Religion and Health.

DOI

Fenggang Yang, Brian L. McPhail (2023). Measuring Religiosity of East Asians: Multiple Religious Belonging, Believing, and Practicing. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Project DOI

Brian L. McPhail, Fenggang Yang (2020). Religious Heterogamy and the Intergenerational Transmission of Religion in China. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 59(3):439–54.

Cite Dataset DOI Preprint

Brian L. McPhail (2019). Religious Heterogamy and the Intergenerational Transmission of Religion: A Cross-National Analysis. Religions 10(2): 109.

PDF Dataset DOI

Work in Progress

Brian L. McPhail (2021). Does religion buffer the effect of childhood abuse on adult sleep quality? Differences by race. Under Review.

Dataset Preprint

Projects

The Ecological Effects of Religion on Health and Mortality in China (Dissertation)
Does the religious environment affect the physical health and mortality of China’s rapidly aging population? Using geographic data of religious sites in China merged with official census reports and a longitudinal survey of older adults, this study applies statistical methods for analyzing spatial and multi-level data to identify patterns in self-rated health, chronic illness, functional limitations, and mortality associated with the religious composition of local Chinese areas.
PDF Link
The Ecological Effects of Religion on Health and Mortality in China (Dissertation)
Measuring Religious Change in the Global East
This one-year project aims to develop survey questions to accurately measure religiosity in the Global East. It will take a bottom-up approach by adopting survey questions locally developed in various East Asian societies, construct a survey questionnaire of religion tailored to the Global East, translate it into multiple languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and English), and test the survey among international students at a university in the US.
Link
Measuring Religious Change in the Global East

Teaching

Graduate Instructor

Graduate Teaching Assistant

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