The RAND Corporation has a straightforward mission: helping to improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. To help us gauge how well we are carrying out this mission, President and CEO Jim Thomson and Executive Vice President Michael Rich ask three sets of questions: (1) Are we addressing issues at or near the top of the national and international policy agenda? Are we helping to shape that agenda? In doing that, do our products and services meet the high standards of quality and objectivity that are RAND's core values? (2) Is our research and analysis reaching key decisionmakers and the broader public, thereby improving the quality of the policy debate? (3) Have our products and services contributed to improvements in policy and decisionmaking? The 2010 Year in Review offers a year-end assessment of RAND's recent achievements.
