Alfonso J. Martinez

PhD Candidate

University of Iowa

Welcome! 📊📈

I am a PhD candidate (ABD) in Psychological and Quantitative Foundations at the University of Iowa specializing in quantitative methods and statistics. I obtained my BA in Psychology (minor in mathematics) from California State University, Fresno in 2019, my MA in Psychological and Quantitative Foundations from the University of Iowa in 2022, and my MS in Statistics in 2023. I plan to defend my dissertation and complete my PhD in summer 2024. In Fall 2024, I will be joining the Department of Psychology at Fordham University as an Assistant Professor of Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology.

My research focuses on the development, evaluation, and application of novel psychometric, statistical, and computational methods for the social, behavioral, and psychological sciences. My areas of expertise are in generalized latent variable and psychometric modeling (e.g., cognitive diagnostic modeling, item response theory), Bayesian inference, longitudinal data analysis, measurement invariance, probabilistic graphical models, mixture modeling, and computational statistics. My methodological research has been published and featured in several top quantitative methods journals including Multivariate Behavioral Research, Psych, and British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology.

Areas of expertise: Generalized Latent Variable Modeling, Bayesian Modeling & Prediction, Algorithm Development, Computational Statistics

Note: This website is continuously undergoing development and may not always reflect the most up-to-date information (last update December 30, 2023).

Upcoming Events

Statistics Workshop: An Introduction to Bayesian Statistics for Psychological Research

Apr 24, 2024 — Apr 28, 2024 2024 WPA Conference (San Francisco, CA, USA)

Examining the Factor Structure of Personality with Bayesian SEM

Apr 18, 2024 — Apr 20, 2024 2024 MPA Conference (Chicago, IL, USA)

Developing an Eﬃcient EAP Placement Test Using Integrated Tasks to Assess Receptive and Productive Skills

Apr 11, 2024 — Apr 13, 2024 2023 LARC (Provo, UT, USA)

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Latest Research

Hyeri Hong, Walter Vispoel, Alfonso J. Martinez

January 2024 Psych, 6(1), 111-134

Applying SEM, Exploratory SEM, and Bayesian SEM to Personality Assessments

We study the factor structure of a measure of personality under the Big Five factor model with structural equation modeling, exploratory SEM (ESEM), and Bayesian SEM (BSEM) and compare the three approaches across different factor structures.

Alfonso J. Martinez, Jonathan Templin

June 2023 Psych, 5(3), 688-714

Approximate Invariance Testing in Diagnostic Classification Models in the Presence of Attribute Hierarchies - A Bayesian Network Approach

In this paper, we provide an accessible and practical guide for conducting invariance analyses in diagnostic classification models when the latent attributes form complex hierarchical structures. We demonstrate the process via an in-depth case study with an empirical dataset. JAGS code is provided to encourage researchers to conduct invariance analyses with their own data. This work was published in Psych as part of the special issue Computational Aspects and Software in Psychometrics II. The supplemental materials associated with the manuscript can be obtained by clicking on the dataset link below and downloading them directly from the publisher website.

Kazuhiro Yamaguchi, Alfonso J. Martinez

May 2023 British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 77(1), 55-79

Variational Bayes Inference for Hidden Markov Diagnostic Classification Models

In this paper, we develop an efficient variational inference algorithm for hidden Markov (longitudinal) diagnostic classification models. This work was published in British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology. Supplemental materials associated with this work can be accessed via the Code tab below.

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