Featured Pardee RAND Research

Pardee RAND students and faculty — and even some alumni — contribute to RAND research. This page features selected reports and projects to which the Pardee RAND community has contributed.

How Russia Targets U.S. Elections
Oct 1, 2020

In this campaign season, Russia might try to manipulate U.S. voters through social media as it did in 2016, and new technologies have made these efforts easier. Russia's tactics aim to polarize Americans, create distrust, and paralyze the political process. Student Hilary Reininger ('16) and colleagues ask, what is the best defense against them?
Schools Weren't Prepared for a Crisis Like COVID-19
Sep 29, 2020

Before COVID-19, less than half of U.S. public schools had a written plan for dealing with a pandemic and only 38 states had publicly available school health emergency plans, according to research by Melissa Diliberti (cohort '19) and RAND colleagues. How did schools' preparation affect their transitions to remote learning and principals' confidence in student achievement?
The Digital Divide and COVID-19
Sep 24, 2020

Findings from a survey of U.S. teachers reveal how limited home internet access has been a barrier to providing instruction amid pandemic-related school closures. Student Melissa Diliberti (cohort '19) and colleagues find the problem is particularly acute among high-poverty schools.
Hedgemony: A Game of Strategic Choices
Sep 22, 2020

Alum Yuna Wong (cohort '00) helped to develop this tabletop military strategy game in which players represent the United States, its allies, and its key competitors. They must use “hedging” strategies and decide how to best manage their resources and forces.
Alums Suggest Opportunities for Including Information Environment in USMC Wargames
Jul 1, 2020

Research by alumnae Yuna Wong (cohort '00) and Ellie Bartels ('15) finds wargaming is enjoying renewed prominence in the defense community, but the information environment remains underdeveloped and underrepresented in U.S. Marine Corps wargames.
Assessing Health Services and Primary Care Research
Jun 30, 2020

RAND reviewed federally-funded health services and primary care research, making recommendations for maximizing outcomes and future investments to better serve the needs of a complex and rapidly changing U.S. health care system.
Understanding Media Use and Literacy in Schools
Jun 29, 2020

Schools can play a key role in fighting Truth Decay—the diminishing role of facts in U.S. public life—by teaching media literacy to students. Student Lynn Hu (cohort 19) and colleagues examine how much emphasis teachers and schools put on this subject.
How Are Educators Teaching and Leading Through the Pandemic?
Jun 22, 2020

U.S. teachers and principals shifted quickly to support students with distance learning during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis. Unfortunately, according to research by student Melissa Diliberti (cohort '19) and colleagues, the pandemic is likely to make existing inequalities worse.
Health Care Resource Allocation Decisionmaking During a Pandemic
Jun 18, 2020

Student Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and colleagues developed a Core Guidance Checklist that can help health systems and policymakers make choices about how to allocate scarce but lifesaving resources—for patients and for health care workers—during the COVID-19 crisis.
How Are Americans Paying Their Bills During the Pandemic?
Jun 3, 2020

About one-third of U.S. households have experienced a decline in income as a result of COVID-19. Professors Katherine Carman and Shanthi Nataraj find that roughly 30 percent of these households—especially low-income, black, or Hispanic households—are having difficulties paying their bills.
Alum: How Would a Public Option on Health Insurance Affect Costs and Coverage?
May 28, 2020

Interest in a government-sponsored health insurance plan with publicly determined provider rates is growing. An analysis by Jodi Liu (cohort '12) and RAND colleagues looked at four such "public option" plans and found that lower provider payment rates would lower premiums. But the impact on enrollees would also depend on tax credits, and changes to the number of uninsured would be small.
Student Examines How Small Businesses Are Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 22, 2020

Small-business owners are facing many challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diana Gehlhaus (cohort '15) helped research what kinds of policies might help them and what will they need to thrive once the immediate public health crisis has passed.
Student Helps to Demystify the Belt and Road Initiative
May 13, 2020

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to connect its partner countries domestically and globally. Though the project appears to address a critical shortage of infrastructure in developing countries, it has been widely criticized. Keren Zhu (cohort '17) and colleagues explore what is at the heart of these critiques.
Student Examines How to Track and Disrupt the Looted Antiquities Trade
May 12, 2020

The sale of stolen cultural property provides an important funding source for terrorist organizations and rogue states. Bilyana Lilly (cohort '16) helped to compile new evidence from numerous open sources that shows how the illicit antiquities market operates and ways law enforcement might be able to disrupt it.
Alum and Prof Evaluate 24/7 Sobriety Program at Individual Level
May 7, 2020

24/7 Sobriety combines frequent alcohol testing with swift, certain, and modest sanctions for those who test positive for alcohol or miss a test. Alum Greg Midgette and Prof. Beau Kilmer used an instrumental variables approach for this study and found 24/7 reduced the probability a participant was rearrested or had probation revoked at 12 months by 49%.
A Natural Experiment to Test the Effect of Sanction Certainty and Celerity on Substance-Impaired Driving: North Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety Program
May 7, 2020

Over half of participants ordered to abstain from substance use complete 24/7 Sobriety without a detected substance use event. At the county level, the program is associated with a 9% reduction in substance-impaired driving arrests.
Students Offer Hospitals Critical Care Surge Capacity Strategies for Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 5, 2020

Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al Ibrahim ('18) worked with RAND researchers to present methods for creating critical care surge capacity in hospitals to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students Help Develop Tool for Policymakers to Manage COVID-19 Responses
May 4, 2020

State and local officials implemented a range of interventions to slow the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing and school closures. Pedro Lima, Lawrence Baker, Keren Zhu, Michelle Priest, and Lynn Hu helped to develop a web-based tool to help leaders weigh both the public health and economic consequences of different approaches to lifting some of these measures.
The Impact of the Air Force's Space Launch Acquisition Decisions
Apr 28, 2020

How could potential U.S. Air Force decisions in the near term affect domestic launch providers and the market in general? New launch market forecasts and vignettes illuminate potential strategies for U.S. firms.
Students Help Develop Interactive Tool for Strategizing Hospital Critical Care Capacity
Apr 17, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is placing extraordinary strains on the U.S. medical system, especially hospitals. Hamad Al-Ibrahim (cohort '18) and Karishma Patel ('17) worked with Prof. Chris Nelson and RAND colleagues to develop an interactive tool hospitals can use to estimate their current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
Student Explores What Digital Materials Teachers Use
Apr 16, 2020

Digital materials for lesson planning and instruction are becoming an increasingly important resource for teachers. Ashley Woo (cohort '18) and RAND colleagues surveyed English language arts, mathematics, and science teachers across the United States for insights on which materials they use and what they consider barriers to use.
Alum and Student Examine Security Risks of China's Investments in Israel
Apr 7, 2020

Chinese investments in Israeli high-tech companies and major infrastructure projects present distinct concerns for Israel and the United States, according to research by alum Shira Efron (cohort '11) and student Emily Haskell ('16). They could lead to leaks of sensitive technology and cyberespionage. And these risks could affect the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Students Contribute to New Tool to Help Health Officials Plan for COVID-19 Patient Surge
Apr 3, 2020

Hospitals are searching for ways to ramp up their surge capacity to provide critical care for the sickest COVID-19 patients. Students Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al-Ibrahim ('18) helped to develop a user-friendly calculator that enables decisionmakers at all levels to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
Students: Promising Strategies for Creating Critical Care Capacity in U.S. Hospitals
Apr 3, 2020

Hospitals can prepare for a surge of patients critically ill with COVID-19, but it will require hospital leaders, practitioners, and regional officials to adopt drastic measures that challenge the standard way of providing care. Students Karishma Patel (cohort '17) and Hamad Al Ibrahim ('18) worked with RAND colleagues to develop a tool to help estimate current capacity and explore ways to increase it.
Student Helps Evaluate the WhyWeRise Mental Health Campaign
Apr 1, 2020

Rebecca de Guttry (cohort '18) conducted interviews and analyzed a survey to evaluate WhyWeRise, a community engagement mental health campaign. The research indicates that the campaign reached at least 30 percent of Los Angeles County youth and mobilized them to improve social support for those experiencing mental health challenges.