Assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill jointly appointed in Sociology and the School of Data Science and Society.

I research gun ownership and how the criminal justice system interacts with inequality. I use preregistered experiments (forced-choice conjoint and vignette), machine learning, longitudinal designs (smartphone-delivered surveys), semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and topic modeling. I teach methods, sociology, and how to critically analyze crime policy.

Recent publications

• Justin L. Sola and Tara D. Warner. 2024. “Firearms, Families, and Financial Distress: Economic Instability and Increased Gun Desire.” Social Science Quarterly (Online First).

• Simon A. Cole and Justin L. Sola. 2024 (proofing). “First Impressions Matter: Mundane Obstacles to a Forensic Device for Probabilistic Reporting in Fingerprint Analysis.” Social Studies of Science.

• Justin T. Pickett, Justin L. Sola, and Shawn D. Bushway. 2024. “Partisan Differences in Hiring and Social Discrimination against Nonbinary Americans.” Socius (Volume 10: 1–5).

• Justin L. Sola and Justin T. Pickett. 2024. “Widespread, bipartisan aversion exists to neighbors owning AR-15s or storing guns insecurely.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (16) e2311825121.

• Justin L. Sola and Charis E. Kubrin. 2023. “Making the Call: How Does Perceived Race Affect Desire to Call the Police?” Experimental Criminology (Online First). Received the 2023 American Society of Criminology Experimental Division Student Paper Award

• Sykes, …. & Sola. 2022. “Barred: Labor Market Dynamics and Human Capital Development Among People on Probation and Parole.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (Volume 701 Issue 1: 28-45).

• Sykes, …. & Sola. 2022. “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Public Assistance, Monetary Sanctions, and Financial Double-Dealing in America.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (Volume 8 Issue 1: 148-178).

• Justin L. Sola. 2021. “Transmitting Desire: An Experiment on a Novel Measure of Gun Desirability in a Pandemic.” Sociological Perspectives (Volume 65 Issue 5: 939-969).