Marvin B. Mandell

Covering models for two-tiered emergency medical services systems

Abstract Emergency medical services (EMS) systems commonly consist of two types of providers, basic life support (BLS) units and advanced life support (ALS) units, with different capabilities. In contrast to other systems in which multiple vehicle responses are necessary, in EMS systems, the first-arriving unit can begin service prior to the arrival of the second-arriving unit. In this paper, a covering-type model for two-tiered EMS systems is considered. The model, which maximizes the expected number of calls for service that are served adequately, takes server availability into account through a two-dimensional queueing model. Illustrative computational results are provided.

The Influence of On-Campus, Academic Year Undergraduate Research on STEM Ph.D. Outcomes: Evidence From the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program

The Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, which celebrated its 20th year in 2008, is considered a successful intervention program for increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who earn Ph.D.s or M.D./Ph.D.s and pursue research careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This article examines the relationship between participation in one specific component of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program—on-campus, academic year research—and the pursuit of a STEM Ph.D. by 13 cohorts of program participants. The results indicate that participation in on-campus, academic year research is associated with a substantial increase in the probability of pursuing a STEM Ph.D. They further suggest that the structure and intensity of the on-campus, academic year research experience matter.

Research utilization in policymaking: A tale of two series (of social experiments)

This paper is an exploratory attempt to view the role that social experiments in general, and the income maintenance experiments and work|welfare demonstrations in particular, have played in the policy process through the lens provided by the knowledge utilization literature. In addition to suggesting that the decision to conduct a social experiment is rarely, if ever, made according to an essentially rational paradigm, this framework helps highlight the range of uses to which findings from social experiments can be put and the circumstances under which various types of uses are more or less likely. Specifically, the knowledge utilization literature suggests that rather than having the dramatic, decisive effects on policy choices that their promoters have often envisioned, social experiments are more likely to affect policy in a variety of subtle ways.

The dissemination and utilization of welfare-to-work experiments in state policymaking

Abstract This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of state-level officials as to the influence of evaluations of three state welfare innovations: Californias GAIN, New Yorks CAP, and Floridas Project Independence. The three experiments were known to those interviewed, yet they did not have dramatic, decisive effects on policymaking. However, GAIN and CAP appear to have influenced policymaking in less dramatic and more subtle respects. Much more important than empirical findings about the effects of tested programs was information about how these programs actually operated in the field along with evidence that the policies tested in welfare-to-work experiments were logically consistent (that is, there was no obvious reason to think that they would be unsuccessful), could clear federal waivers, and would not encounter major political resistance.

Approaches to the Study of Information Utilization in Public Agencies Problems and Pitfalls

Unfortunately, although increasing in quantity, research concerning the use of analytically-based information (ABI) in public sector organizations has not greatly enriched our knowledge of the use of ABI. In this article, we consider some prominent methodological problems involved in such studies that we believe have greatly inhibited progress in developing powerful knowledge concerning the use of ABI. In addition, some suggestions for avoiding these methodological problems or reducing their effects are offered.

The impact of parental homeownership on children's outcomes during early adulthood

Abstract Whether children benefit from being raised in a home owned by their parents has important policy implications and has been the topic of much scholarly debate. We match Panel Study of Income Dynamics data with census tract data to examine the impact of childhood experiences on adult outcomes for children followed over three decades. This allows us to document a wide range of characteristics. For children born between 1968 and 1974, we analyze data on their first 18 years and also various outcomes when they are between 25 and 31 in 1999. We control for a comprehensive set of observable parental characteristics and develop a method to control for unobservable child characteristics together with an instrumental variable for the remaining selection problems. Parental homeownership status and childrens college education and home‐ownership status are closely related, although the former is generated partially by the greater residential stability associated with homeownership.

Having One's Cake and Eating It, Too Combining True Experiments With Regression Discontinuity Designs

Both true experiments and regression discontinuity (RD) designs produce unbiased estimates of effects. However, true experiments are, of course, often criticized on equity grounds, whereas RD designs entail sacrifices in terms of statistical precision. In this article, a hybrid of true experiments and RD designs is considered. This hybrid entails smaller sacrifices in statistical efficiency than RD designs and also is likely to be judged as being considerably more fair than true experiments and possible even RD designs. Moreover, unlike pure RD designs, the hybrid design considered here can be employed in situations in which the variable on which assignment to treatment condition is based takes on only a discrete set of values.

A model for locating automatic external defibrillators

Abstract Automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) enable basic life support (BLS) companies to resuscitate victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (“heart attacks”) by automatically or semi-automatically providing an electrical countershock. Due to the cost of such devices, decision-makers in emergency medical service (EMS) systems often face the task of selecting those BLS units in the EMS system on which an AED should be placed. We thus present a multiobjective integer programming model, incorporating both equity and overall survival rates, to help decision-makers select BLS companies in a jurisdiction to equip with AEDs. The model can also accommodate restrictions that decision-makers might wish to impose in terms of specifying BLS units on which an AED must, or must not, be placed. In addition to the model itself, a heuristic solution procedure is presented. A case study in which the model was applied successfully is also described.

Public Values As a Core Element of NASPAA

Abstract The diversity of types of degrees offered by NASPAA member programs creates both challenges and opportunities. One of the most vexing of these challenges concerns the identity of our field. In this address, I suggest that bringing public values to bear upon the analysis and management of organizations, programs, and policies should be a core element of the identity of NASPAA and its member programs. At the same time, it appears that to date we have not been entirely successful in helping society incorporate public values other than economic efficiency into public policy and management. In addition to sharpening the identity of NASPAA and its members, doing a better job of helping society incorporate public values other than economic efficiency into public policy and management can help reverse the erosion of the role of government that we have witnessed over the past four decades.

Transferring Decision Support Concepts to Evaluation.

Abstract A substantial body of empirical evidence indicates that decision support systems (DSS) are effective tools for increasing the utilization of management science models and accounting information. Our basic argument is that applying the conceptual foundations of DSS to evaluation and other forms of applied social research (ASR) is a potentially effective means of increasing the utilization of the results of these analyses in policy making. The two bases for this basic argument are: (a) analytical uncertainty is inevitably present in evaluation and other forms of ASR, and (b) the conceptual foundations of DSS provide a better means of coping with analytical uncertainty than are otherwise available.