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Susan G. Straus

Senior Behavioral Scientist
Pittsburgh Office

Education

Ph.D. and M.A. in industrial/organizational psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; B.A. in psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Susan Straus is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on the social and organizational impacts of information and communication technologies, with specific interests in factors that influence adoption and effective use of these technologies in diverse contexts including national security, education, health care, and law enforcement. Current and recent projects address distributed communities of practice among K-12 STEM educators, evaluation of the National Science Foundations' Digital Library/Distributed Learning Program, virtual training capabilities for collective Army training, development of critical thinking skills and adaptive performance in Army leader education, Army intelligence analyst competencies and proficiency, and health information exchange in the military health system. Straus has extensive experience in program evaluation, experimental and quasi-experimental methods, qualitative methods including interviews and focus groups, and survey design and analysis. She has published her work in RAND reports as well as in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Small Group Research, and Human-Computer Interaction. Straus received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

  • Use of Web 2.0 Technologies to Build Communities of Practice among K-12 Science Educators
  • Using Virtual Training Capabilities to Enhance Collective Training
  • Evaluation of U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program
  • Policy Issues for Health Information Technology and Health Informatics
  • Building an Implementation Toolset for e-Prescribing

Selected Publications

Lytell, M. C., Straus, S. G., Serena, C. C. , Grimm, G. E., Doty, J. L., Wenger, J. W., Golay, A. A., Naber, A. M., Grammich, C. A., Fowler, E. S., Assessing Competencies and Proficiency of Army Intelligence Analysts Across the Career Life Cycle, RAND Corporation (RR-1851-A), 2017 (forthcoming)

Bikson, T. K., Straus, S.G., Agnew, G., Kalra, N., McArthur, D. J., Crompton, H., Kase, C. A., and Leuschner, K., Digital Resources for STEM Educators and Recommendations for Cyberlearning Initiatives: Results from the National Science Foundation Digital Library/Distributed Learning Program Evaluation, RAND Corporation (RR-414-NSF), 2017

Straus, S. G., Shanley, M. G., Sims, C. S., Hallmark, B. W., Saavedra, A. R., Trent, S., and Duggan, S., Innovative Leader Development: Evaluation of U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program, RAND Corporation (RR-504-A), 2014

Hosek, S. D., and Straus, S. G., Patient Privacy, Consent, and Identity Management in Health Information Exchange: Issues for the Military Health System, RAND Corporation (RR-112-A), 2012

Crosson, J. C., Etz, R. S., Wu, S., Straus, S. G., Eisenman, D., & Bell, D. S., "Meaningful Use of Electronic Prescribing in 5 Exemplar Primary Care Practices," Annals of Family Medicine, 9(5):392-397, 2011

S. G. Straus, A. M. Parker, and J. B. Bruce, "The Group Matters: A Review of Processes and Outcomes in Intelligence Analysis," Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 15(2):128-146, 2011

S. G. Straus, T. K. Bikson, E. Balkovich, and J. F. Pane, "Mobile Technology and Action Teams: Assessing BlackBerry Use in Law Enforcement Units," Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, 19(1):45-71, 2010

J. M. Wilson, S.G. Straus, and B. M. McEvily, "All in Due Time: The Development of Trust in Electronic and Face-to-Face Teams," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 99, 2006

Honors & Awards

  • Sloan-C 10th Annual Blended Learning Conference and Workshop, Best in Track Award, 2013, The Sloan Consortium

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: CNN; New York Times; Shrink Rap

Publications