Kouper's research interests are in the history and sociology of knowledge production and dissemination, with a particular emphasis on the emerging technologies and data practices.

She has published on the topics of hypertext, biotechnology, big data, and data curation.

She is involved in the projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to study communities of data producers and consumers, promote data stewardship and sharing and develop innovative methods of data collection, preservation, and analysis.

Kouper has undergraduate and masters degrees in information systems, a PhD in sociology and a PhD in information science.