This is a course on models for multi-level growth curve data. These data arise in longitudinal designs, which are quite common to education and applied social, behavioral and policy science. Traditional methods, such as OLS regression, are not appropriate in this settings, as they fail to model the complex correlational structure that is induced by these designs. Proper inference requires that we include aspects of the design in the model itself. Moreover, these more sophisticated techniques allow the researcher to learn new and important characteristics of the social and behavioral processes under study. In this module, we will develop and fit a set of models for longitudinal designs (these are often called growth curve models). The course assignments will use state of the art statistical software to explore, fit and interpret the models.
