Critical to precise quantitative research is reliability estimation. Researchers have limited tools, however, to assess the reliability of evolving instruments. Consequently, cursory assessment is typical and in-depth evaluation is rare. This paper presents a rationale for and description of PIAS, a computerized instrument analysis system. PIAS…

The study investigated the feasibility of adapting the coefficient k introduced by Cohen (1960) and elaborated by Swaminathan, Hambleton, and Algina (1974) to an internal consistency estimate for criterion referenced tests in single test administrations. The authors proposed the use of k as an internal consistency estimate by logically dividing…

Single-administration procedures for estimating the coefficient of agreement, a reliability index for criterion referenced tests, were recently developed by Subkoviak. The procedures require a distributional assumption for errors of measurement and an estimate of each examinee's true score. A computer simulation of tests composed of items that…

For two tests measuring the same trait, the program, BIV20, equates the scores using the two True score distributions estimated by the univariate method 20 program (see Wingersky, Lees, Lennon, and Lord, 1969) and, with these equated true scores and their distributions, estimates the bivariate distribution scores and the relative efficiency of the…

Several new programs have been added to those of the Comprehensive Occupational Data Analysis Programs (CODAP), all oriented toward analyzing and manipulating information describing work tasks, rather than jobs or persons. REXALL analyzes the inter-rater agreement among judges concerning task-factor ratings. TSKFAC adds factor weight vectors to…

A statistical method for testing the agreement between a judge's assessment of an object or subject and a known standard is developed and shown to be superior to two other methods which appear in the literature. (Author/JKS)

The absence of suitable external criteria is a recurrent problem for test, battery, and inventory developers in selecting items or tests for inclusion in final operational instruments. This report presents a computing algorithm developed for use when no adequate external selection criterion is available. The algorithm uses a multiple linear…

Tailored testing increases the efficiency of tests by individually selecting for each person a set of items from an item pool so that the difficulty of the items selected will be such as to maximize the information provided by the score. The tailored testing procedure designed by Cliff orders persons and items on a common ordinal scale and…

A new method was developed to assist in the selection of a test length by utilizing computer simulation procedures and item response theory. A demonstration of the method presents results which address the influences of item pool heterogeneity matched to the objectives of interest and the method of item selection. (Author/PN)

Procedures for computing content validity and consistency reliability coefficients and determining the statistical significance of these coefficients are described. Procedures employing the multinomial probability distribution for small samples and normal curve probability estimates for large samples, can be used where judgments are made on…

This paper elaborates on the work of Cardinet, and others, by clarifying some points regarding calculations, specifically with reference to existing computer programs, and by presenting illustrative examples of the calculation and interpretation of several generalizability coefficients from a complex six-facet (factor) design. (Author/RL)

A method for developing statistically parallel tests based on the analysis of unique item variance was developed. A test population of 907 basic airmen trainees were required to estimate the angle at which an object in a photograph was viewed, selecting from eight possibilities. A FORTRAN program known as VARSEL was used to rank all the test items…

Two methods of item selection were used to select sets of 40 items from a 50-item verbal analogies test, and the resulting item sets were compared for relative efficiency. The BICAL program was used to select the 40 items having the best mean square fit to the one parameter logistic (Rasch) model. The LOGIST program was used to select the 40 items…

The reliability and validity of a tailored testing procedure based on the simple logistic model was determined for an achievement test in statistics and measurement. The test was administered on a CRT terminal to students from graduate and undergraduate measurement courses. Equivalent form reliability over a one-week interval was found to be 0.595…

Believing that examinee-by-item interaction should be conceptualized as true score variability rather than as a result of errors of measurement, Lu proposed a modification of Hoyt's analysis of variance reliability procedure. Via a computer simulation study, it is shown that Lu's approach does not separate interaction from error. (Author/RL)