Research Analysis
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Is Older Really Wiser? Maternal Age and Child Development
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Although numerous researchers have examined the potential negative consequences of teen parenthood, fewer studies have investigated how having children later in life can benefit or disadvantage those children. As the average age of first-time mothers continues to rise, especially in bigger cities, it is important to understand what this means…
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Returning Special Education Students to General Education Classrooms: Effects on Peers’ Reading Scores
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In most countries, children with special educational needs (SEN) are taught in segregated settings, but some children with SEN eventually return to general education classrooms. This is due to politicians’ increased push for inclusive education, as well as the fact that there is a point at which students with SEN…
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How Do Parental Attitudes Towards Sugary Beverages Affect Childhood Obesity?
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Childhood obesity is an issue in the United States. According to the CDC, nearly 1 in 5 school-age children and young people (ages 6 to 19) in the U.S. experienced obesity from 2015–2016. Policymakers have experimented with several policies to prevent obesity in childhood, ranging from school nutrition and fitness…
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Competitive Outcomes: Does Increased School Choice Mean Better Schools in the Long Run?
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As American political rhetoric becomes more and more partisan, debates around public education have become increasingly divisive. From Betsy DeVos’s support for charter schools to nationwide protests by public teachers demanding higher pay, disagreement abounds regarding how best to serve America’s struggling students. In December, New Orleans propelled itself to…
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The Myth of Lower Prices: Do Multinationals Save Us Money?
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The most commonly cited argument in favor of the expansion of multinational retailers is one of costs and benefits. Proponents argue that the cost of the proliferation of multinational corporations—displacing local retailers who create more employment per dollar of sales—are outweighed by the benefit of lower retail prices. However, the…
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WiFi is getting crowded: Should the FCC reserve more spectrum for it?
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All WiFi signals travel over frequency ranges in the wireless spectrum, and those ranges are getting increasingly crowded as people use more internet-enabled devices and require more data usage. These frequency ranges, called “bands,” can only handle so much traffic at one time, and it is the responsibility of the…
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Housing and Opportunity: Impacts of Chicago’s Public Housing Demolition
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Chicago’s history of low-income housing policy is complex. The Chicago Housing Authority used to manage 17 large housing projects for low-income residents, but during the 1990s, due to high crime, poverty, drug use, and corruption and mismanagement in the projects, plans were made to demolish them. By 2011, all of…
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Aggression and Video Games: Do Violent Video Games Induce Aggressive Attitudes and Behaviors?
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Video games are often cited as a cause of mass violence. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton asked federal agencies to investigate violent media. More recently, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre directed blame toward video games in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. President Trump…
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How Fake News Spreads on Twitter
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The 2016 presidential election was a watershed moment in American politics. Political polarization reached its highest ebb in decades, fueled in part by individuals’ self-guided consumption of media matched to their own political ideologies. During and after the election, there was public scrutiny of “fake news”—inaccurate information published and shared…
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Solar Inverters: Recommendations for achieving 100 percent renewable energy and maintaining grid reliability
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In recent years, over 100 cities have committed to transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. Two states, Hawaii and California, have also adopted 100 percent renewable energy goals, which they aim to achieve by 2045. As cities and states move towards meeting these commitments, electric utility companies are…
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Can Neighborhood-Level Legal Aid Improve Police-Community Relations?
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During the 1960s, the Johnson administration sought to address civil disorder and calm race riots as part of its War on Poverty. In pursuit of that goal, it established the Neighborhood Legal Services Program (NLSP), which funded local legal agencies through federal grants. By providing community-based legal aid in areas…