People

Sarah Depaoli, Ph.D.

Professor of Quantitative Methods, Measurement & Statistics

Dr. Sarah Depaoli is Professor of Quantitative Methods, Measurement & Statistics at the University of California, Merced. She received her Ph.D. in 2010 in Quantitative Methods (minor: Mathematical Statistics) from University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior to that, she obtained a B.A. in Psychology (2003) and M.A. in Quantitative Psychology (2007) from California State University, Sacramento. She is an elected member since 2016 of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (capped at 65 active members world-wide).

Dr. Depaoli teaches undergraduate statistics and a variety of graduate courses in quantitative methods. Her research interests include examining different facets of Bayesian estimation for latent variable, growth, and finite mixture models. She has a continued interest in the influence of prior distributions and robustness of results under different prior specifications, as well as issues tied to latent class separation. Her recent research has focused on using Bayesian semi- and non-parametric methods for obtaining proper class enumeration and assignment, examining parameterization issues within Bayesian SEM, and studying the impact of priors on longitudinal models.

Finally, Dr. Depaoli has served the field in a variety of ways, including as Associate Editor for: Multivariate Behavioral Research (2017-present), Psychological Methods (2018-present), and Journal of the Royal Statistical Society--Series A (2022-present).

Current Graduate Students

Madelin Jauregui

Graduate Student

Madelin is a graduate student of Quantitative Psychology at the University of California, Merced. Holding a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia, and a Master's degree in Psychology from KU Leuven, Belgium, she has cultivated a deep enthusiasm for quantitative research and its potential to contribute to the field. Her primary interests revolve around developing advanced statistical techniques—particularly in the analysis of longitudinal data using structural equation and multilevel models—and implementing machine learning methods in psychological research.

Minjeong Jeon

Graduate Student joining Fall 2025!

Former Graduate Students

Ihnwhi Heo

Assistant Professor at University of Oklahoma

Marieke Visser

Data scientist at ForsMarsh

Sonja Winter

Assistant Professor at University of Missouri

Patrice Cobb

Data scientist at Meta

John M. Felt

Assistant Research Professor at Penn State

Yuzhu (June) Yang

Data scientist at Twitter

James P. Clifton

Career Education Research Analyst, MiraCosta College

Sarah Scott

Entered doctoral retraining program for clinical psychology after obtaining her Ph.D.