Research in the New Digital Landscape
Our research is defined by our evidence-based, data-driven approach to designing, implementing and evaluating policy for an increasingly digital society.
We engage in innovative research initiatives and projects to shape and advance good policy, which we define as policy that advances equity and efficiency while providing for the greatest number of people, now and in the future. To do this work, we
- Collaborate with partners outside of AYSPS to affect change, with recent examples that include our Public Interest Technology – University Network partnership with Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, in which our faculty are working together in new ways to help find solutions to stubborn social problems.
- Bring a modern entrepreneurial approach to research in the public and nonprofit sectors. One example is our Georgia Policy Labs which works with government partners and school districts to identify successful programs and policies, create and test innovative policy solutions, and help scale up innovations with the greatest potential to improve outcomes for children, students and families.
- Focus on purpose-based studies that deliver data-driven, entrepreneurial solutions to social and economic problems. For example, an interdisciplinary team (Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia Health Policy Center, Social Work, Economics) funded by the National Institute of Justice is conducting the first two phases of a multi-phase, multi-year impact evaluation of the Second Chance Act (SCA) prisoner reentry grant program. The research will support the Department of Justice’s efforts to improve knowledge of promising practices in prisoner re-entry and inform the development of more effective federal efforts.
Policy decisions impact all areas of life. Our research empowers decision makers in the public and nonprofit sectors to make informed policy decisions in areas that include, but are not exclusive to, criminal justice and criminology, fiscal policy, hazards and disasters, public health, public management, social and economic justice, social welfare, sustainability, and urban issues like housing and transportation.
Our Research Goals
We seek to advance knowledge on the varying effects of new technology on marginalized groups, anticipating future technology-driven disparities to devise more inclusive interventions and policies.
We explore research opportunities and collaborations that will inform policy development and practice interventions (public sector; service providers, workforce development programs) aimed at reducing digital disparities.
We give primacy to defining, analyzing and offering solutions to the issues experienced by emergent/newly marginalized groups as well as those that reinforce existing conditions for historically marginalized groups.
Research Initiatives
Public Interest Technology-University Network (PIT-UN)
Learn about Public Interest Technology
Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology, by New America PIT’s Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank, presents a powerful new blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to help solve the most serious problems of the twenty-first century. It is a must-read for PIT practitioners.
Learn more by viewing the authors’ book conversation, “Power to the Public: Discussion about the Promise of Public Interest Technology, here.
Georgia State Library offers copies of the eBook here.
As a part of the Digital Landscape Initiative, Dean Sally Wallace and team applied and Georgia State University was awarded membership in the PIT-UN. Dean Wallace was then designated by Provost Wendy Hensel as PIT-UN’s primary contact in the University.
PIT-UN is dedicated to supporting the development of “the nascent field of public interest technology and growing the new generation of civic-minded technologists.” The network encourages curriculum development and research and provides opportunities for collaboration in this developing field.
A University-wide working group is helping to shape our work within the national PIT-UN, foster collaboration across campus and with other institutions, find opportunities for research collaboration through grants, workshops and courses. Recent successes in these areas have included the PIT-UN Fellows interdisciplinary research collaboration project with Georgia Tech and PIDLit Inititative, a program designed and led by the GSU Library to help expand data literacy among students, faculty and the community.
Other PIT-UN related projects led by our GSU colleagues include:
- A project led by Scott Crossley, a professor of applied linguistics & ESL at Georgia State, was awarded a National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator Grant to bring together experts in education, cognitive science, technology and other fields to identify barriers and solutions to delivering high-quality online education. It will lay the groundwork for future collaborations across a variety of disciplines to research, develop and refine effective and equitable remote educational technologies.
- Crossley and Joon Suh Choi, a Ph.D. student of applied linguistics & ESL were named Catalyst Prize winners in the Futures Forum on Learning: Tools Competition (Schmidt Futures). They will adapt the Automated Readability Tool for English (ARTE), a free, easy-to-use tool that automatically measures text readability, into an interactive web application to make it more accessible to teachers, administrators, researchers and material developers.
AYS Open and the Open Access Repository in ScholarWorks
ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University highlights the research and scholarship of members of the University community, including the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. The University Library administers the archive to collect, organize, disseminate and preserve the digital scholarly output of our faculty, students and staff.
Additional Research Resources
Other academic institutions, research centers and funding agencies engage in work or follow missions that can inform avenues for exploring and refining research on technology and marginalization. This page offers a sample compilation of their websites. We look forward to receiving your input on additional resources that should be featured on this page.
AYS/GSU Research Support
For an overview of the research support resources available, go to the AYS Research Support page. You can also search for federal and non-federal funding opportunities on GSU’s University Research and Service Administration website.