Andrew Parker, PhD
email: parker@rand.org
phone: (412) 683-2300, x4892
Title(s)
Senior Behavioral & Social Scientist
RAND Corporation
Office
RAND Corporation 4570 Fifth Ave #600 Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Information
Education
B.A. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
M.S. Carnegie Mellon University
Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon University
Research interest: Andrew M. Parker, Ph.D. is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research applies core concepts in behavioral decision research to the understanding of decision makers’ behavior in complex real-world situations. He has applied this approach to vaccination, mammography, drug and alcohol use, adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior, low-income consumption, retirement planning, group decision making, crisis decision making, and expectations for major life events. A substantial portion of this research has involved health communication and decisions involving health risks. Dr. Parker led an NIA-funded, 13-wave panel American Life Panel study tracking H1N1 risk perception and vaccination decision making. He is current engaged in a series of studies using these survey methods to inform and parameterize agent-based models of vaccination and mammography behavior, which allow risk perceptions to transmit across social networks. He recently led an NSF RAPID grant to understand evolving public mental models of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination. As principal investigator of another NSF grant, Dr. Parker led the development of both youth and adult instruments assessing decision-making competence, which measure the ability of individuals to avoid common decision-making pitfalls. He has extensive methodological and mixed-methods experience, including qualitative methods, experimental design, and survey data collection. Dr. Parker received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in Behavioral Decision Theory, as well as an M.S. in Statistics