The RAND Blog

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Job Training Is More Effective When Educators, Government, and Industry Work Together

The United States is facing economic gaps wider than have been seen in a century. To keep the nation economically strong and able to provide citizens with middle-class lifestyles, educators, government, and private industry need to work together to shape training opportunities.

Matthew D. Baird, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson

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How Creating a Pillow Talk Ritual Can Help You Get a Good Night's Rest

Working to bolster your sleep can bolster your relationship quality, and vice versa, and individually or collectively, they can both bolster your health. A simple technique can help build a habit around connecting with your partner.

Wendy M. Troxel @wendytroxel

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Donald Rumsfeld: Anti–Nation-Builder

As Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly resisted U.S. military participation in nation-building–type operations. Even as the United States terminates the last of those nation-building missions, that in Afghanistan, it is worth reflecting on these experiences.

James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins

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Veteran Journeys: Where Mental Health Research Meets Opera

Kenneth Wells, a psychiatrist, librettist, and composer, has written a documentary disguised as an opera. He drew on Partners in Care, a 10-year RAND-UCLA study that was one of the first to use a multisite collaborative primary care approach to treat veterans and others experiencing depression.

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Pandemic-Era Parties, China's Global Influence, Reducing Infant Mortality: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on assessing the risk of small gatherings during the pandemic, China's ability to exert influence around the world, using big data to reduce infant mortality, and more.

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Reducing Disparities in Infant Mortality: Using Big Data to Help Babies at Risk

Black babies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—and across America—face much higher mortality rates than white babies. Researchers pulled together thousands of data points on more than 150,000 births to better predict who is at risk and how to help.

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Stop, Start, or Continue? A National Survey of the Police About Traffic Stops

As research continues to show widespread racial disparities of those stopped by police, it is increasingly seen as a practice that, if ended, would serve the cause of social justice. Should the police continue to conduct traffic stops? Police1 conducted a survey of officers to find out what they think.

Bob Harrison

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Trying to Manage North Korean Instability Risks

The regime in North Korea usually makes extreme efforts to prevent outsiders and even its own people from seeing instabilities there. But Kim Jong-un appears to be taking some risks trying to solidify his grip in the wake of events undermining his control.

Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett

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The Signal and the Noise: Understanding China's Military Threats

Although China's capabilities and communication channels have changed, its fundamental approach to military deterrence signaling as a form of political coercion has not. As Australia-China relations enter a new, more confrontational era, Canberra is likely to be an increasingly frequent target of Chinese deterrence signaling.

Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga

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Why Iran May Be in No Hurry to Get Nuclear Weapons Even Without a Nuclear Deal

History shows that many countries with advanced nuclear technologies but without nuclear bombs opt to stay that way. There are reasons to believe that Iran, too, may choose to remain non-nuclear at least in the foreseeable future.

Mayumi Fukushima

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We Studied COVID-19 Cases After Birthdays. Family Gatherings Can Still Be Dangerous

The high toll of COVID-19 in the United States is likely partly due to informal social gatherings that have not been subject to state and local restrictions. They are often small, intimate, and involve people we trust. And that makes them dangerous.

Christopher M. Whaley @cm_whaley, Anupam B. Jena

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RAND Art + Data, 'Gray Market Care,' Supply Chains and Cyberattacks: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on RAND's new artist residency program, Art + Data; the prevalence of "gray market care" in the United States; supply chains' cyber problem; and more.

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Collect Data on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Health Surveys

The Biden administration wants to promote programs and policies informed by science and to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. For researchers to confidently answer that call, the first step is for the government to consistently collect sexual orientation and gender identity data.

Sarah MacCarthy, Marc N. Elliott

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The Remote Learning Paradox: Some Educators, Parents Want to Keep Online Classes Option Even Though Instruction Suffered

Despite remote learning not going particularly well during the pandemic, about one-third of U.S. schools are keeping it as an option. Is remote learning a pandemic blip or a permanent feature of public education moving ahead?

Julia H. Kaufman @juliahkaufman, Heather L. Schwartz @schwartz_hl, et al.

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Arming the Department of Defense's Environmental Liabilities Program

A new U.S. emphasis on sustainable environmental conditions is emerging just as budget pressures are increasing. The DoD could use this as an opportunity to develop a systematic approach to addressing its environmental liabilities.

Christy Foran, R. J. Briggs, et al.