ARCED INTERNATIONAL ◆ ARCED FOUNDATION
I design surveys, lead field teams and turn raw data into evidence for RCTs and impact evaluations — 100+ projects since 2013 for universities, the World Bank, UN agencies and NGOs.
ABOUT
I am a Senior Project Associate at ARCED Foundation and part of the ARCED International team. Since 2013 I have managed more than 100 research projects — baselines, midlines, endlines, impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials — for universities, the World Bank, UN agencies, government and NGOs.
My work covers the whole evidence pipeline: study design and sampling, questionnaire development and SurveyCTO / ODK programming, enumerator training and field supervision, high-frequency checks and back-checks, analysis in Stata, R and Python, and dashboards in Power BI and Tableau.
100+ projects · 13+ years · 30+ international partners · all 8 divisions of Bangladesh
WHAT I DO
Sampling strategies, questionnaire development and translation, protocols and field manuals, IRB and ethics compliance.
Enumerator recruitment and training, field supervision, back-checks and audio audits, daily reporting to PIs — for CATI and in-person surveys.
SurveyCTO, ODK, KoBo and Survey Solutions forms with built-in checks; cleaning, pipelines and documentation in Stata, R and Python.
Descriptive and inferential analysis, rubric-based evaluation scoring, Power BI, Tableau and Looker Studio dashboards, and GIS mapping.
Monitoring frameworks, indicator design and OECD-DAC evaluations for development programmes — from inception report to final findings.
Evaluation and study reports, technical proposals and budgets for institutional tenders with ARCED Foundation and ARCED International.
SELECTED WORK
A few of the 94 assignments I have coordinated — randomized trials, impact evaluations and large-scale surveys with university and multilateral research teams.
UC San Diego · 2022 – 2025
Randomized evaluation of air purifiers on health and willingness-to-pay in Mirpur — a 40-household pilot, a 1,000-household scale-up and a 2,500-household follow-on survey.
National University of Singapore · 2023 – present
Technology-enabled randomized study to improve monitoring and enforcement of brick-kiln pollution, with a tracker, a dashboard and Department of Environment workshops.
IFPRI & IFAD · 2024 – 2025
Coastal char livelihoods impact assessment in Noakhali — Survey Solutions and SurveyCTO templates, listing, pilot and main surveys in Hatiya, Companiganj and Subarnachar.
UC San Diego · 2025 – 2026
Randomized field study in garment factories linking workplace air quality to productivity — calibrated PM2.5 monitors, smart plugs, attendance and productivity data, worker surveys.
Columbia, Princeton & Ben-Gurion · 2022 – present
Endline surveys with 6,700 apparel workers across Dhaka, Savar, Narayanganj, Comilla and Chittagong to evaluate a whistleblowing escrow for worker protection.
The World Bank · 2024
Student assessments and teacher interviews in 140 schools — 8,400 students and 560 teachers — covering tool translation, survey coordination, quality control and analysis.
TRUSTED BY
World Bank · UC San Diego · Stanford University · Georgetown University · IFPRI & IFAD · New York University · Columbia Business School · Princeton University · National University of Singapore · International Growth Centre · ILO · USAID · IFRC · Oxfam · Save the Children · Innovations for Poverty Action · MIT · Yale University · Plan International · Swisscontact · ActionAid · Action Against Hunger · GAIN · Sesame Workshop · BRAC University
CONTACT
I am open to research collaborations, evaluation assignments and data-management consultancies in Bangladesh and, through ARCED International, across East Africa.
ARCED Foundation: zahirul.islam@arced.foundation
ARCED International: zahirul.islam@arced-international.com
Phone / WhatsApp: +880 1688 831919
Full portfolio · ORCID · LinkedIn · GitHub