Professor Pais is a social demographer and social stratification researcher with expertise in longitudinal data analysis, multilevel modeling, structural equation models, and spatial data analysis. Much of his scholarship utilizes a life course perspective to advance our understanding of how community forces affect patterns of social mobility. He also conducts research on community vulnerability to natural disasters and other environmental hazards. His research appears in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Demography, Social Forces, Social Problems, and many other peer reviewed outlets.