Luke J Matthews

In this report, RAND researchers explore an application of artificial intelligence that would enable the U.S. Air Force to leverage existing data for improved human resource management policies and practices. The main purpose of this report is to serve as a worked example for Air Force policymakers as they consider how to approach the potential ways in which artificial intelligence can improve human resource management processes.

The authors examine Russia's use of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism (REMVE) narratives in the context of its war against Ukraine from 2022 to early 2024 by analyzing content on social media platforms X and Telegram.

To determine how much the United States can rely on its network of allies and partners, researchers compared global networks of diplomatic, military, and economic elements of national power in 1989, 2000, and 2017 on a variety of factors.

This book explores both scientific and humanistic theoretical traditions in anthropology through the lens of ontology.The first part of the book examines different methods for generating valid anthropological knowledge and proposes a shift in current consensus. Drawing on Western scholars of antiquity and the medieval period and moving away from 20th-century theorists, it argues that we must first make ontological assumptions about the kinds of things that can exist (or not) before we can then develop epistemologies that study those kinds of things. The book goes on to apply the ontology-first theory to a set of case studies in modern day conspiracy theories, misinformation, and magical thinking. It asserts that we need to move away from unneeded metaphysical assumptions of conspiracy theories being misinformation and argues that reconstructing particular historical events can be a fruitful zone for application of quantitative methods to humanistic questions.Theorizing the Anthropology of Belief is an excellent supplementary suitable for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropological theory.

This book explores both scientific and humanistic theoretical traditions in anthropology through the lens of ontology.The first part of the book examines different methods for generating valid anthropological knowledge and proposes a shift in current consensus. Drawing on Western scholars of antiquity and the medieval period and moving away from 20th-century theorists, it argues that we must first make ontological assumptions about the kinds of things that can exist (or not) before we can then develop epistemologies that study those kinds of things. The book goes on to apply the ontology-first theory to a set of case studies in modern day conspiracy theories, misinformation, and magical thinking. It asserts that we need to move away from unneeded metaphysical assumptions of conspiracy theories being misinformation and argues that reconstructing particular historical events can be a fruitful zone for application of quantitative methods to humanistic questions.Theorizing the Anthropology of Belief is an excellent supplementary suitable for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropological theory.

The authors describe development of a survey measure that they used to examine characteristics of human cognitive processing (such as cognitive biases) and assess the results for individual resistance to some aspects of Truth Decay, including blurring of the line between opinion and fact and diminished trust in formerly respected institutions as sources of factual information.

In 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched two programs to help monitor progress toward a new global goal to increase modern contraceptive use by 2020: Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) and Track20. This evaluation of both programs is based on interviews with more than 260 stakeholders, statistical analysis of the PMA2020 survey, and analysis of stakeholder ratings of data maturity and sustainability.