This document is designed to provide a “how- to” guide for those who research and analyze governing pretrial laws and rules and who make recommendations for reform. It starts by summarizing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a person best suited to perform such an analysis, followed by guidance on how to build a foundational understanding of pretrial justice issues and how to develop a normative standard—that is, an objective, ideal, and optimally universally correct standard—by which to measure the efficacy of bail laws. It concludes by explaining the how to assemble the various materials needed in each of the major sources of information.