Ethan's work is grounded in the perceptual and social experiences of linguistically diverse individuals and their underlying neural and behavioral mechanisms. He is particularly interested in how speech perception is shaped by ecological factors (attitudes towards linguistic diversity in a specific location), personal social network diversity, and individual factors (experience with linguistic diversity, age, hearing status, and language experience). His research has recently expanded to include language use in online spaces, computational approaches to quantifying language use and change, and word recognition in sign languages. Across these lines of work runs a science-of-science thread: Ethan advocates for fairer and more just theories and tools in psycholinguistic research.

Ethan uses a variety of methodologies such as eye tracking, electroencephalography, and network science tools to explore the crossroads of language, cognition, and society. His work has been funded by agencies including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Ethan currently serves as an editorial board member for Scientific Reports and the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psycholinguistics, and as an Associate Editor for Applied Psycholinguistics and Frontiers in Psychology. In 2022, he co-founded the ROLE Collective (Reframing Our Language Experience), which works towards addressing linguistic inequalities in systems such as research and education. He also serves on the organizing committee of Reviewer Zero, a coalition of faculty and graduate students in psychology, neuroscience, and the cognitive sciences working to reset peer review culture so that reviews serve a formative rather than a gatekeeping function, supported by an NSF.