Independent research and public-use data on India.
DALES is a non-partisan collective of academics, social scientists, and practitioners studying public opinion, state capacity, elections, urban change, migration, and social change in India. We conduct field surveys, work with administrative data, and build public-use datasets, public analysis, and research resources that can be used beyond the team that produced them.
Evidence that can travel beyond one report.
Our work is grounded in careful methods and a public-good commitment: collect field data responsibly, use administrative data carefully, document both clearly, and make them useful beyond the team that produced them.
Two connected modes.
DALES is primarily a public research and data collective, while also supporting institutions that need credible field evidence, survey design, and public opinion research.
Public research
Field surveys, administrative datasets, reports, codebooks, questionnaires, and public analysis on democratic life, welfare, governance, mobility, cities, and elections in India.
Advisory work
Commissioned studies for institutions, media organizations, civil society groups, and public-facing clients who need survey design, field execution, data analysis, and grounded interpretation.
From questions to usable data.
Design
Frame questions, samples, questionnaires, translations, and field protocols around the research problem.
Field
Manage field teams, monitoring, verification, and data quality across diverse social and political settings.
Document
Prepare datasets with codebooks, instruments, notes, and analysis so others can understand and use the evidence responsibly.
Institutional identity
DALES is a unit of BA Data Action Lab LLP, incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. LLP Identification Number: ACH-3304.
Website: dataactionlab.org / X: @DataActionLab