Additional Appointments
Affiliate Faculty, Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences
Research Interests
Elizabeth Sanders
My teaching and research are focused on the appropriate use of quantitative methods in education and related disciplines. More specifically, my research interests center on analytic methods for nested data, including multilevel models, longitudinal models, and exponential random graph models. In addition to my methodological work, I collaborate with a number of colleagues on a variety of educational, behavioral, and health research, with an emphasis on promoting equitable resource access for at-risk and historically underserved populations.
Please see Google scholar for an up-to-date list of peer-reviewed publications.
Graduate students
Note: I am not accepting new Ph.D. students for the 2024-2025 academic year, but will consider accepting 1-2 new master's students.
My M&S graduate students study analytic methods in the context of educational research, typically by employing Monte Carlo simulation investigations using R, Mplus, or SAS. Reflecting the multidisciplinary history of quantitative research methods, all of our program's graduate students come from diverse academic backgrounds, including economics, education, engineering, medicine, political science, psychology, sociology, and statistics, to name a few. Regardless of prior background, our M&S faculty and students share a common mission to improve education policy and equity through the study and practice of high-quality quantitative methodology.
All M&S students are expected to take foundational coursework in education (e.g., learning theory, history of education) as well as a range of coursework in measurement and statistics within and outside of the College of Education. Doctoral students are typically funded as TAs or RAs, and those who are accepted into the Ph.D. program are typically students who began in our Master's program. Students who graduate with a master's from our program are typically employed by local district and state agencies, university research groups, and private companies (e.g., market research, software testing research, etc.). Students who graduate with a Ph.D. generally go on to work in academic appointments (teaching and research) or leadership roles within district and state agencies, university research groups, and private testing organizations.
I am always interested in prospective students who demonstrate a passion for quantitative methods (as its own discipline), strong writing and analytic skills, and share our commitment to educational equity.
Courses
I have taught courses in basic educational statistics, survey research methods, educational research methods, experimental design, advanced correlational techniques/regression, multilevel modeling, and structural equation modeling. From time to time I offer specialized seminars, such as Psychology of Math.