Professor Carr's interests include social psychology, aging and the life course, gender, and family. One strand of her research focuses on how work and family experiences over the life course affect men's and women's psychological well-being, with an emphasis on cohort differences in experience. Her research in this area has appeared in journals including Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Marriage and Family, Psychological Inquiry, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Sociological Methodology as well as various edited volumes. She is currently working on a National Institute of Aging (NIA)-funded project to study the ways that work and family stressors over the life course prepare (or impair) older adults as they cope with the challenges of later-life.

A second strand of her research focuses on bereavement among older adults. She is particularly interested in how demographic, technological, and social/political changes affect the experiences of the dying and their families. Her research in this area is published in journals including Aging International, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Marriage and Family, Research on Aging, and several edited volumes. She is also co-editor of the forthcoming book Spousal Bereavement in Late Life (Springer Publishing). She recently received two grants from NIA to study end-of-life planning among older adults; one study focuses on healthy older adults in Wisconsin , and the other focuses on chronically ill older adults seeking care in central New Jersey hospitals.