Given a set of dichotomously scored items, ordering theory attempts to identify a hierarchy among those items. A graphic representation is presented for an empirically obtained hierarchy and a testing procedure to evaluate hypothesized hierarchical relationships. (Author/JKS)

This paper reports on a project which has developed the general latent class model as a framework for representation of item responses. This framework can be used to represent data in applications such as mastery tests and other kinds of achievement tests, where there is reason to believe that current foundations are deficient. Methods of…