Statistics Team

The KU Center on Developmental Disabilities is a hub of research activity in the Life Span Institute at the University of Kansas, housing multiple funded projects at any given time. The mission of the KUCDD statistics team, comprised of two Ph.D.-level statisticians and two graduate research assistants, is to offer the top-caliber statistical services needed to advance research work at the center. As part of this mission, the KUCDD statistics team also helps test and disseminate new applications of statistical methods promising to advance disability studies. 

Statistical services offered by the KUCDD statistics team include: 

  • Data Validation. We will help KUCDD affiliates design systems for funded projects with automated data cleaning and data reporting routines for quality assurance to ensure data are accurate and publishable. 
  • Data Analysis. We will help KUCDD affiliates design and implement the data analyses needed to meaningfully address research questions in a rigorous fashion. 
  • Statistical Education. We will help all KUCDD affiliates, ranging from doctoral students to senior investigators, deepen their understanding of research methods by offering open study groups, one-on-one consultation services, and workshops for small groups. 
  • Grant Development. We will help KUCDD affiliates procure grant funds by assisting them in the development of competitive grant applications, including, but not limited to, guidance in the development of logic models, formulating research questions, identifying appropriate measurement techniques, data analysis planning, and running power analyses. 

To request validated data from previous project, data analysis, statistical consulting, or grant development, please contact Tyler Hicks at tahicks@ku.edu.

Current members of the KUCDD statistics team include:

Tyler Hicks

Tyler Hicks, PhD, assistant research professor, is the director of the KUCDD statistical team and has been a member of the team since 2018. He received his doctorate in Education at the University of South Florida in 2015, with double concentrations in Educational Statistics and Special Education. His research interests focus on modeling data from clinical trials with reduced sample sizes within a Bayesian decision framework to promote disability studies. He is fluent in SAS and, on occasion, dabbles in R and Mplus. His scholarship has been published in Educational Researcher, American Journal of Evaluation, and Remedial and Special Education.   

 

Dasha Gerasimova

Dasha Gerasimova, PhD, assistant research professor, is an applied research methodologist on the KUCDD statistical team and has been a member of the team since 2020. She received her doctorate in Education at George Mason University in 2020, with concentrations in Applied Quantitative Methods and Educational Psychology. Her research interests focus on applied quantitative research methods and measurement, as well as psychological aspects of mathematics education. She uses a range of programs, including SAS, Mplus, R, SPSS, and flexMIRT. Her scholarship has been presented at National Conferences organized by the National Council on Measurement in Education, American Psychological Association, and American Educational Research Association.