Each fellow, in regular consultation with a staff adviser, will design a program that reflects his or her research needs and interests, and stage in their research career. When appropriate, fellows may choose from a wide range of substantive and methodological courses in policy analysis offered by the RAND Graduate School. These include statistics, econometric methods, social science research methods, health policy analysis, and a number of other courses in applied policy analysis. In addition, members of the Statistical Consulting Group who have doctorates in statistics offer a series of short courses on current topics of interest. Examples of recent courses include survival analysis, general linear models, regression diagnostics, and the analysis of cluster-sampled data.
Fellows also enhance their experience in preparing and using large data bases.
Collaboration and Informal Training. Fellows benefit not only from formal education opportunities, but also from the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior researchers. Typically, fellows work on two or three projects each year, including ongoing studies in collaboration with RAND researchers and studies of his or her own design. Fellows broaden their informal interaction with the research staff by participating in several seminar series on topics concerning population and aging offered at RAND, at the University of California at Los Angeles, and at the University of Southern California. Developing a Research Agenda.