Professor
Department of Psychology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:
Email: dbauer@email.unc.edu
Website: http://www.unc.edu/~dbauer/

Research Interests & Goals:
Dan Bauer’s research focuses on the development, evaluation and application of quantitative methods suited to the study of developmental phenomena, especially social development in the domains of aggression, antisocial behavior, and substance use. These methods include multilevel linear and nonlinear models, structural equation models, cluster analysis and finite mixture models, and models that integrate various aspects of these analytic techniques (e.g., growth mixture models). He is primarily interested in the application of these models for the analysis of change over time. Developmental theory suggests that change may be nonlinear in form, may occur simultaneously over multiple timeframes (e.g., long-term trends in a phenomenon that also exhibits seasonal fluctuations), and may differ qualitatively between subgroups of the population under study. Dr. Bauer’s quantitative research stems from a desire to model change in a manner that optimally reflects the theoretical model. As such, he has concentrated his research on identifying both the opportunities and limitations associated with current and newly emerging analytic models, as well as investigating new ways to overcome these limitations so that the models can be usefully applied to make accurate inferences about developmental theory.