Primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of various scoring methods on the reliability and validity of the Primary Test of Economic Understanding (PTEU). the PTEU was designed to be scored using the matched pair procedure. (Authors)

For the principles studied here, poor item-writing practices serve to obscure (or attentuate) differences between good and poor students. (Authors)

Nine methods of smoothing double-entry expectancy tables (tables that relate two predictor variables to probability of attaining success on a criterion) were compared using data for entering students at 85 colleges and universities. The smoothed tables were more accurate than those based on observed relative frequencies. (Author/CTM)

The gains in accuracy resulting from applying any of the smoothing methods appear sufficient to justify the suggestion that all expectancy tables used by colleges for admission, guidance, or planning purposes should be smoothed. These methods on the average, reduce the criterion measure (an index of inaccuracy) by 30 percent. (Author/MV)