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Methodology

RAND researchers have pioneered several different methodologies, such as the Delphi method and robust decisionmaking, and continue to apply their methodological expertise in multidisciplinary projects that may require a range of capabilities, including modeling and simulation, survey research, economic or statistical analysis, or planning and forecasting.

Commentary

Culture, Performance, and Assessment in Research

The unwritten, and often unsaid, concern in the debate about research culture in the UK is an apparent trade-off between excellence in research and a healthy research culture. But the evidence shows that this is a false dichotomy.

May 25, 2021
Tool

Getting To Outcomes® Operations Guide for Air National Guard Community Action Teams

This Getting To Outcomes guide will help with the planning, implementation, evaluation, continuous quality improvement, and sustainability of Air National Guard Community Action Plans. It includes guidance, resources, and examples of completed tools.

May 24, 2021
Commentary

Will the United States Declare Freedom from COVID-19 Too Soon?

RAND analyzed what could happen with COVID-19 deaths in the United States if restrictions all go away on July 4. Fully reopening the economy before Biden's vaccination target was met doubled the average number of COVID-19 deaths between Independence Day and the end of the year.

May 21, 2021
Journal Article

Exploring Chinese Military Thinking on Social Media Manipulation Against Taiwan

This article addresses a gap in the current policy discussion, provides evidence of Chinese military planning for covert manipulation of Taiwanese social media, and explores how its interest in and tactics for social media manipulation have evolved over time.

May 19, 2021
Journal Article

Netizen Opinion and China's Foreign Policy: Interpreting Narratives About North Korea on Chinese Social Media

This article collects a novel dataset of thousands of Chinese-language social media posts on the leading microblog, Sina Weibo, in 2015. Analysis of this dataset reveals four multilayered popular Chinese narratives on North Korea.

May 18, 2021
Report

Weighing the Costs of GPS Disruption and Developing Backup Capabilities

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has a key role in national positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), but it is far from the only source of capability for PNT. Would national investment in GPS backup capabilities be warranted, given the potential threats to its functioning?

May 17, 2021
Blog

Pandemic Education, Working Mothers, Predicting Cyber Threats: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the urban-rural divide in pandemic education, supporting working moms, what makes a good COVID-19 reopening plan, and more.

May 14, 2021
Commentary

How Truth Decay Is Fueling Vaccine Hesitancy

A recent poll found that more than a quarter of Americans will not try to get vaccinated. The spread of misinformation and disinformation, which is rampant over social media, is one of the factors fueling vaccine hesitancy. And in turn, it's threatening our ability to end the pandemic for good.

May 14, 2021
Tool

Toolkit for Weighting and Analysis of Nonequivalent Groups: A Tutorial on the TWANG Shiny Application for Time-Varying Treatments

This tutorial demonstrates the use of the Toolkit for Weighting and Analysis of Nonequivalent Groups Shiny application for time-varying treatments -- for cases when the time-varying treatment or exposure is binary -- using an illustrative example.

May 14, 2021
Journal Article

Where to Next? PLA Considerations for Overseas Base Site Selection

There has been much speculation about where China's next overseas military base will be, but what does the Chinese military itself think about selecting the locations for its overseas military bases?

May 14, 2021
Journal Article

Borrowing a Boat Out to Sea: The Chinese Military's Use of Social Media for Influence Operations

The Chinese military is positioning itself as one of the leading actors for hostile Chinese influence operations on social media. The PLA uses social media for covert hostile political interference operations targeting foreign countries.

May 14, 2021
Journal Article

Cognitive Domain Operations: The PLA's New Holistic Concept for Influence Operations

As information becomes ever more central for Chinese warfighting, the People's Liberation Army is developing a new concept for psychological warfare in the information era called "cognitive domain operations."

May 14, 2021
Report

Online Dispute Resolution: Perspectives to Support Successful Implementation and Outcomes in Court Proceedings

Online dispute resolution provides a forum for the resolution of court matters that was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. A panel of experts identified strategies to improve access to justice using these platforms.

May 14, 2021
Report

New Model Helps Predict Cyber Threats and Improve Resilience

Today's evolving cyber threats require a tailored and targeted approach to cybersecurity. Current defenses focus on managing threats after a network has been breached. RAND's Scalable Warning and Resilience Model (SWARM) can help defenders proactively protect their systems through early warning of cyber incidents before they occur.

May 11, 2021
Report

Stress-Testing California's COVID-19 Reopening Strategy

States' reopening plans vary widely. With a revised RAND decision support tool, researchers tested alternative plans, using California as an example. The best strategies did not prematurely relax measures like indoor mask-wearing; began with a high level of caution; were tied to vaccination rates; and made changes gradually.

May 10, 2021
Periodical

RAND Review: May-June 2021

The cover story highlights the value of invention, analyzing the economic and social impacts of winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. A second feature focuses on human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs in China and what we know from satellite images.

May 6, 2021
Report

Evaluating Los Angeles County's COVID-19 Mental Health Campaign

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health launched a campaign to promote awareness of county mental health resources and communicate messages of hope and support. RAND evaluators found that the campaign successfully reached residents, fostered a feeling of support among those it reached, and conveyed how to seek mental health help.

May 4, 2021
Report

Informing the Development of Standardized Clinical Definitions of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: Results of Two Modified-Delphi Expert Panels

The authors describe the results of two modified-Delphi expert panels used to inform the work of a federal steering committee on the development of clinical definitions of neonatal abstinence syndrome and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

May 3, 2021
Report

On Balanced Games Without Side Payments: A Correction

The purpose of this paper is to repair Lemma 6.3 appearing in the author's previous paper of the same title (P-4910, September 1972).

May 1, 2021
Report

Machine Learning Can Detect Online Conspiracy Theories

As social media platforms work to prevent malicious or harmful uses of their services, an improved model of machine-learning technology can detect and understand conspiracy theory language. Insights from this modeling effort can help counter the effects of online conspiracies.

Apr 29, 2021

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