Join the Consortium

Does your work involve trying to understand how people decide, e.g., answering questions like these?

  • How do people cope with the uncertainty they face in their decisions?
  • Why do some negotiators consistently make better deals than others?
  • How did the Truman Administration arrive at its decision to attempt the Berlin Airlift?
  • Why do some experimental markets settle on non-optimal equilibria?
  • Why do people so often choose to marry the wrong people, and what-if anything-could be done to reduce the incidence of such choices?
  • How do consumers come to conclude that some product is so bad that they would never even consider trying it again, no matter what the incentive?

Or does your work focus on other matters that, nevertheless, are significantly affected by how people decide, such as the following?

  • Trying to persuade juries to find for one side rather than the other in lawsuits
  • Developing artificial intelligence computer programs that diagnose the causes of computer failures
  • Designing public campaigns to encourage people to reduce risky driving
  • Devising corporate strategies that are effective responses to new competition and leaner economic conditions
  • Training loan officers to appraise applications both efficiently and effectively
  • Convincing patients to adhere to their prescribed diets
If these things seem at all like what you do, and you are a University of Michigan student (graduate or undergraduate) or a member of its faculty (including research scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and professional affiliates), then the Decision Consortium is probably right for you. The Consortium maintains a variety of activities and services that can assist your work. You can participate in those options as much or as little as makes sense for you, with no pressure. Contact Frank Yates ([email protected]) or Stephanie Preston ([email protected]) to be added to the Decision Consortium group.