Goodman's research and teaching interests span astronomy, data visualization, prediction, and online systems for research and education.

In her astronomical pursuits, Goodman and her research group at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA study the dense gas between the stars. They are particularly interested in how interstellar gas arranges itself into new stars, and in the large-scale structure of gas within the Milky Way. Their investigations use a variety of observational techniques covering the spectral range from X- ray to radio. In early survey work, Goodman was the Principal Investigator of The COMPLETE Survey of Star-Forming Regions, which mapped out three very large star-forming regions in our Galaxy in their entirety. More recently, Goodman and collaborators have founded the "milkyway3D.org" effort, aimed at stiching together many discoveries about the Milky Way galaxy's structure, particularly near the Sun. Several of these discoveries, including The Bones of the Milky Way, The Radcliffe Wave, The Perseus-Taurus Supershell, Star Formation on the Local Bubble, have been made in recent years, by collaborations at the core of Goodman's current efforts.