How “good enough” technology can stifle innovation
2015 essay on how early adoption of technology can stifle later innovation, by Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Center for Civic Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Politics & Government
Research roundups, tip sheets, articles and explainers related to the topic of politics, elections, and local and national governments
Expert Commentary
Animal hoarding: A collection of research and journalism resources
2016 collection of research that explores animal hoarding as a public policy issue for various government agencies, including city government, law enforcement, departments of health and animal protective services.
Expert Commentary
Digital tools in K-12 classrooms and student achievement: Weighing the evidence
2014 research brief by Patricia Burch, University of Southern California; Annalee Good, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Carolyn J. Heinrich and Chandi Wanger, U.T. Austin.
Expert Commentary
Protests, waves of collective action and policing in the United States: Key research ideas
In the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, we review research on the nature of social movements, “waves” of protests and activism cycles, as well as police response.
Expert Commentary
Undocumented migration to the United States and the wages of Mexican immigrants
A 2014 study from Princeton University published in International Migration Review on the impact of a change in the proportion of undocumented immigrants on immigrant wages.
Expert Commentary
Who pays for public employee health costs? Data analysis
2014 paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research showing how increases in health care costs for public sector workers are addressed by government.
Expert Commentary
Homelessness in the United States: Trends and demographics
Review of new federal report and other studies relating to the homeless population in the United States and providing insight into demographic characteristics and trends.
Expert Commentary
How “scientific” graphs and formulas can increase the persuasiveness of advertising media
2014 study in Public Understanding of Science that explores how ostensibly “scientific” graphical elements in a medication ad can increase consumers’ belief in its effectiveness.
Expert Commentary
Propaganda, media effects and conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan genocide
A 2014 paper from the Harvard Kennedy School on the impact of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines, a key media outlet for the Tutsi-led government, on violence and killings of the Tutsi minority.
Expert Commentary
Pro- and anti-Americanism in sub-Saharan Africa
2014 study in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research on attitudes toward the United States in sub-Saharan Africa and why, overall, they tend to be more positive that in many other parts of the world.
Expert Commentary