Data Analysis

Health Information Privacy
commentary
Mobile Health Surveillance Is Here to Stay, So How Do We Protect Privacy?
Benjamin Boudreaux
Aug 20, 2020
Inside Sources
Mobile phone surveillance can augment public health interventions to manage COVID-19 and might help countries prepare for the next outbreak. But these programs collect sensitive health and behavior data. That raises significant risks to personal privacy and civil liberties.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap
May 29, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on how COVID-19 has affected U.S. schools, potential barriers to vaccine uptake, what small businesses need to survive, and more.
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Data Analysis
q&a
Modeling the Future of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts
May 26, 2020
The phrase “flatten the curve” familiarized Americans with epidemiological models used to estimate virus transmission, cases, and potential deaths from COVID-19. But new models are needed as the country enters a different stage of the crisis.
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Statistical Analysis Methodology
commentary
Don't Make the Pandemic Worse with Poor Data Analysis
Matthew D. Baird, David G. Groves, Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba, Andrew M. Parker, Ricardo Sanchez, Claude Messan Setodji
May 6, 2020
The RAND Blog
The need for immediate answers in the face of severe public health and economic distress may create a temptation to relax statistical standards. But urgency should not preclude expert analysis and honest assessments of uncertainty. Mistaken assumptions could lead to counterproductive actions.
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Media Literacy
q&a
Searching for Truth: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh
Jun 26, 2019
Senior political scientist Jennifer Kavanagh helps lead RAND's work on Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. In this interview, she discusses her latest research on how news presentation has changed over time and across platforms.
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The Internet
blog
RAND's Analysis of News in the Digital Age: Three Takeaways
May 14, 2019
How has the rise of digital technology shaped the way that news is presented? RAND researchers conducted an empirical study to find out. Here's what you need to know from their findings.
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Data Science
essay
Big Data, Big Questions
Oct 16, 2017
RAND-Lex is a computer program that can scan millions of lines of text and identify what people are talking about, how they fit into communities, and how they see the world. The program has shed light on how terrorists communicate, how the American public thinks about health, and more.
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Data Science
commentary
What Data Is the Government Keeping About You?
Dulani Woods, Brian A. Jackson
Mar 1, 2017
Inside Sources
Governments are amassing a wealth of data on citizens, a trend that will continue as technology advances. But with no reliable way to ensure that the data is accurate, risks abound. In the criminal justice system, for example, poor quality data could affect individual freedoms and employability.
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Data Analysis
commentary
No Company Should Be Able to Keep You from Checking Your Government's Math
Brian A. Jackson
Jan 18, 2017
Inside Sources
Data and computer models are becoming more and more important for making policy decisions on everything from prison sentences to tax bills. But citizens should be able to “check the math” on decisions that affect them.
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Data Analysis
blog
The Art of Data in Baseball
Nov 15, 2016
The traditional baseball scout's keen eye is no longer deemed sufficient to rate talent, said Jeff Luhnow, general manager of the Houston Astros, at RAND's Politics Aside event. Analysts check curveball spin rates, computer-modeled swing mechanics, and even sleep habits.
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Intelligence Collection
commentary
Following Online Footprints to Catch Terrorists
Isaac R. Porche III, Colin P. Clarke
Dec 28, 2015
Newsweek
Millions of people leave behind online footprints each day, giving law enforcement and intelligence experts the chance to construct a profile of who is more likely to commit violence in the name of a murderous ideology.
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Data Privacy
commentary
License Plate Readers and Right to Privacy
Keith Gierlack
Jul 15, 2014
The Orange County Register
License plate reader technology can be a force multiplier for law enforcement. Its ability to identify license plates of interest to police in real-time makes it an effective tool but there is also potential for abuse. Law enforcement authorities should address credible privacy concerns.
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Data Analysis
commentary
How Do We Deal with a Flood of Data?
Isaac R. Porche III, Bradley Wilson, Erin-Elizabeth Johnson
Jun 23, 2014
Future Force
Despite the value of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, the amount of data they generate has become overwhelming. If the Navy does not change the way it processes information, it will reach an ISR “tipping point”—as soon as 2016.
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Data Analysis
commentary
Why 'Big Data' Can't Find the Missing Malaysian Plane
Isaac R. Porche III
May 1, 2014
U.S. News & World Report
The failure to find the missing aircraft demonstrates anew the serious gaps in data coordination and challenges public assumptions about the thoroughness and simplicity of searching the world’s data for answers.
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Crime and Violence Prevention
commentary
Predictive Policing: An Effective Tool, but Not a Crystal Ball
Walter L. Perry, John S. Hollywood
Nov 15, 2013
Government Technology
Predictive policing is not an end-all solution, but rather a tool that must be used in concert with other policing resources as part of a broader anti-crime effort. Used properly, predictive policing can predict the risk of future events, but not the events themselves.
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Quoted

The United States should find ways to deter Chinese aggression that don't involve making an unambiguous and costly military commitment to Taiwan. Short of such a guarantee, Washington can still make much more explicit that invading Taiwan will entail economic, political, and military consequences for China.

Michael J. Mazarr

Senior Political Scientist

Source: Foreign Affairs

The failure of the jihadists can be judged a victory—albeit a costly one—over an organized effort to instigate violence in the United States. The country, however, has not exhausted its inventory of disaffected young men (and women) who may, in the future, embrace jihadism or other extremist ideologies on offer to convey their discontent.

Brian Michael Jenkins

Senior Adviser to the RAND President

Source: The Hill

The Digital Divide and COVID-19

The Role of Allies and Partners in U.S. Military Strategy and Operations

When It Comes to U.S. Health Systems—Diversity Matters

Taiwan’s KMT May Have a Serious '1992 Consensus' Problem

Reducing the Transmission of COVID-19 in Schools

The Policy Currents Podcast

Measuring Wellbeing to Help Communities Thrive

Managing Escalation in Crisis and War

Planning for the Rising Costs of Dementia

Assessing and Articulating the Wider Benefits of Research

Data Analysis

Mobile Health Surveillance Is Here to Stay, So How Do We Protect Privacy?

COVID-19's Effects on U.S. Schools, Vaccine Uptake, Small Businesses: RAND Weekly Recap

Modeling the Future of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

Don't Make the Pandemic Worse with Poor Data Analysis

Searching for Truth: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh

RAND's Analysis of News in the Digital Age: Three Takeaways

Big Data, Big Questions

What Data Is the Government Keeping About You?

No Company Should Be Able to Keep You from Checking Your Government's Math

The Art of Data in Baseball

Following Online Footprints to Catch Terrorists

License Plate Readers and Right to Privacy

How Do We Deal with a Flood of Data?

Why 'Big Data' Can't Find the Missing Malaysian Plane

Predictive Policing: An Effective Tool, but Not a Crystal Ball

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