Applied Statistics Workshop (Gov 3009)

The Applied Statistics Workshop (Gov 3009) meets all academic year, Wednesdays, 12pm-1:30pm, in CGIS K354. This workshop is a forum for advanced graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present and discuss methodological or empirical work in progress in an interdisciplinary setting. The workshop features a tour of Harvard's statistical innovations and applications with weekly stops in different fields and disciplines and includes occasional presentations by invited speakers. There is a free lunch provided. Presentation by James Greiner Title- Two Proposed Field RCTs in the Law Abstract- This talk will consist of a presentation of two proposed randomized control trials (“RCTs”) in the legal setting. The first concerns triage of legal services in the context of intimate partner violence prevention. The RCT will deploy a double-randomization scheme to compare results of human (professional) triaging to random triaging. The second study concerns the legal aspects of severe financial distress. It will deploy a saturated two-by-two design contrasting (i) self-help materials versus an offer of attorney representation, and (ii) financial counseling delivered via the Internet or the telephone versus financial counseling delivered via a paper packet. For the latter RCT, results of a pilot study will be presented.