BDS Data Analytics, LLC, was formed in 2015 by three statisticians from industry, academe, and government. Our company has grown exponentially with clients from mid-to-large law firms, mid-to-large accounting agencies, a major government agency, and a manufacturer.
For our work with law firms, we develop sampling plans with random selection and estimation procedures to audit hospitals’ underpayments costs owed by insurance companies. These sampling plans use special software that optimizes stratum boundaries as well as other strategies to allow for smaller sample sizes, lowering the cost of adjudication. Our reports are clearly written to provide understanding of the sampling process. An arbitration judge after reading a BDS report, said “This is the first time I understood random sampling.”
Our work for accounting firms includes sample designs and sample selection to estimate research and development tax credits for submission to the Internal Revenue Service. These plans require in-depth knowledge of IRS procedures and requirements, particularly to plan for uncertainty in the IRS audit process. Another type of project for IRS submission is using cost segregation to sample, for example, building or construction projects to identify fixed asset components that are subject to shorter depreciation lives.
Among other major BDS projects, we provided statistical analysis and expertise for litigation at the trial stage for a major government agency. Also, for a manufacturer, we developed and implemented a major survey that was published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Statistical Consultants
Mary Batcher, PhD, PStat®
Mary Batcher has over 25 years of experience using design based and model based sampling and estimation to address the needs of clients in federal government and private industry to test and improve new and existing systems, to identify and estimate overbillings in federal healthcare programs, and to quantify corporate income tax deductions and credits. She is expert at identifying the right statistical solution to client problems. At Ernst & Young, she began a statistical practice that started with $30,000 in revenue in 1997 and was over $4.5 million when she retired in 2015. As the National Director for Statistics, Mary oversaw the technical aspects of over 400 projects a year and hers was the only Big 4 sampling group with no sample ever rejected by the IRS. Previously, Mary worked as the Chief of Statistical Support for the Statistics of Income Division at the Internal Revenue Service. From 1985 - 1988, she worked as a statistician for the National Center for Education Statistics. Mary has received many honors and awards including the American Statistical Association’s Founders Award, an Assistant Commissioners Award at the Internal Revenue Service and was a finalist for the Rosemarie Meschi Award at Ernst & Young. She received her professional Statistician Accreditation from the American Statistical Association in 2010. She is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute and an Elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Chauncey Dayton, PhD
A recognized expert in research design, statistical methods, survey design and advanced measurement techniques (psychometrics). He has published two McGraw-Hill statistics textbooks and a Sage volume on the important topic of mixture models. In addition, his dozens of refereed journal articles have appeared in top-tier journals and he has authored several important book chapters. His career in higher education spanned teaching, advising and administration in the field of measurement, statistics and evaluation as well as an appointment with the program in survey methodology. His doctoral students have achieved great success in higher education, government service and private industry. For many years, he has engaged in consulting work as a principal in Dayton & Scheers Consulting on a wide range of topics including health care administration, university overhead audits, program evaluation, and survey/research design. After service in the US Army, Chauncey completed a Master’s degree in quantitative Psychology and a Doctoral degree in measurement and statistics. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland.
N.J. Scheers, PhD
NJ Scheers is a partner at BDS Data Analytics and has more than 25 years of experience as a statistician at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a federal regulatory agency. As a Branch Chief in CPSC’s Directorate of Epidemiology, she improved the quality of risk analyses for injuries and deaths from children’s products, all-terrain vehicles, and lawnmowers. As Director of Budgeting, Strategic Planning and Evaluation, she led the development of the agency’s first risk-based outcome-oriented strategic plan, and wrote the agency’s budget justification for the Office of Management and Budget on issues regarding agency funding. She is a recognized expert on infant suffocation deaths; led a major nationwide study with onsite interviews of caregivers whose infants had recently died; and published the results of her risk analysis in prominent peer-reviewed journals. Her work contributed to major health policy changes in infant sleep guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics and she was a consultant to the AAP task force that developed the initial guidelines. Her most recent work contributed to a proposed ban on crib bumpers and interviews with the Washington Post and Consumer Reports. Concurrently, Dr. Scheers also served as a principal at Dayton & Scheers Consulting and partnered with KPMB to develop creative sampling plans to estimate overhead costs at major universities, as well as provide statistical advice/analysis on research topics for a variety of clients. Finally, Dr. Scheers was an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University, serving as a methodologist on Ph.D. dissertation committees, that resulted in a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals.