For legal & public-policy research

Your evidence needs to survive a court, a legislature, or an agency review.
We've designed studies built for exactly that.

Empirical legal studies, field experiments, and rigorous policy evaluation — including estimates of Indiana's legal needs using existing national survey and Census data, and research on state school-accountability measures.

Book a free project consultation Or send us your project details →

Sound familiar?

› You need a legal-needs or access-to-justice study designed to hold up to scrutiny from funders and policymakers.
› A field experiment or natural experiment needs a design that isolates the policy's actual effect.
› Your agency or research team needs a cost-efficient way to estimate need across a large population without surveying everyone.
› You're building an accountability or performance-measurement system and need the underlying methodology to be defensible.
› You need secondary data — administrative, court, or agency records — cleaned and analyzed at scale.

What you get

Typical deliverables are listed below. Your proposal specifies the included outputs, available data, timeline and fee. Choose a focused project or ongoing support. See ways to work with DASS →

›Written study and evaluation plan
›Sampling recommendations and power-analysis memo
›Simulation-based estimation
›Secondary data analysis
›Prepared dataset and documented cleaning steps
›Longitudinal & multilevel modeling
›Results tables, figures and findings summary
›Reproducible R code you keep

Representative engagements

Empirical work for courts, agencies, and public accountability systems.

Legal · Access to Justice · Indiana University

Estimating Indiana's legal needs from existing data

State-level estimates from existing survey data

Identified an existing national legal-needs survey and combined it with Census and American Community Survey data using spatial microsimulation to estimate legal needs among low-income Indiana households. The analysis is documented in Appendix A of the 2019 Indiana Civil Legal Needs Study and Legal Aid System Scan.

Assessment & Policy · IES project award: $11.7M

A national center for special-education accountability

Longitudinal data across multiple states

Longitudinal analysis and data management for a national R&D center evaluating how states measure school performance for students with disabilities.

$15M+

Total awards for research our team supported

Published

Peer-reviewed research and methods

15+ yrs

Applied statistics — from RCTs to psychometrics

Since 2019

DASS statistical consulting

Methods we work in

Multilevel models Structural equation modeling Bayesian methods IRT & psychometrics Randomized controlled trials Power analysis R & reproducible code

“

We had an unrealistically tight timeline, and Dr. Yel jumped in without hesitation — not only met the deadline, but delivered a little earlier than we anticipated. He took the time to understand the situation behind the data and the implications of every insight. We know who to go to for future work like this.

Research Client

Deadline-critical analysis

“

DASS did a fantastic job. They were patient, clear about the coding, and very responsive to my emails. They took the time to understand the overall goal before proceeding with each step. Highly recommend.

Research Client

Statistical coding & analysis

Common questions

Can you estimate legal need without surveying everyone?

Yes. For the 2019 Indiana Civil Legal Needs Study, our team combined an existing national legal-needs survey with Census and American Community Survey data using spatial microsimulation to estimate need among low-income Indiana households. The analysis is documented in Appendix A of that study.

Can you design a field or natural experiment?

Yes. The aim is a design that isolates the policy's actual effect.

Can you work with administrative, court or agency records?

Yes. Secondary data analysis, with a prepared dataset and documented cleaning steps, is a listed deliverable.

Can you help build a defensible accountability or performance measure?

Yes. Our team did longitudinal analysis and data management for a national center studying how states measure school performance for students with disabilities.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

We don't publish a price list because cost depends on scope. The free 30-minute consult ends with a scoped proposal that includes methods, a timeline and a fixed quote, whether or not you hire us. If you have a deadline, such as a resubmission date, tell us on the first call so the timeline is built around it. We reply to inquiries within one business day.