The development of a nonparametric K-sample test for equality of slopes using Puri's generalized L statistic is presented. The test is recommended when the assumptions underlying the parametric model are violated. This procedure replaces original data with either ranks (for data with heavy tails) or normal scores (for data with light tails).…

The purpose of the present paper is to derive linear equating methods for the common item nonequivalent populations design from explicitly stated congeneric type test score models. The equating methods developed are compared with previously developed methods and applied to five professionally constructed examinations administered to approximately…

Reliability coefficients of linear combinations of observed scores have anomalous properties which have led to difficulties in the investigation of difference scores and gain scores in test theory. Discrepancies between classical results and correct results obtained from more general formulas, which allow for correlated errors, are examined…

Multilinear formula scoring (MFS) is reviewed, with emphasis on estimating option characteristic curves (OCSs). MFS was used to estimate OCSs for the arithmetic reasoning subtest of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery for 2,978 examinees. A second analysis obtained OCSs for simulated data. The use of MFS is discussed. (SLD)

Two methods of constucting equal-interval scales for educational achievement are discussed: Thurstone's absolute scaling method and Item Response Theory. Alternative criteria for choosing a scale are contrasted. It is argued that clearer criteria are needed for judging the appropriateness and usefulness of alternative scaling procedures.…

The use of confirmatory factor analysis by the LISREL program is demonstrated as an assumption-testing method when computing reliability coefficients under different model assumptions. Results indicate that reliability estimates are robust against departure from the assumption of parallelism of test items. (SLD)

People can use a variety of different strategies to perform tasks and these strategies all have two characteristics in common. First, they can be evaluated in comparison with either an absolute or a relative standard. Second, they can be used at varying levels of consistency. In the present article, the authors develop a general theory of task…

Coefficient alpha, the most commonly used estimate of internal consistency, is often considered a lower bound estimate of reliability, though the extent of its underestimation is not typically known. Many researchers are unaware that coefficient alpha is based on the essentially tau-equivalent measurement model. It is the violation of the…

Statistical significance and "abnormality" have been used as criteria for the evaluation of intra-individual subtest score differences. Shortcomings of these criteria are identified, and improved estimates of the true score differences are suggested. The applicability of the abnormality criterion to these improved estimates is reviewed.…

Using data from a National Child Development Study (NCDS) in Great Britain, the applications of instrumental variable methods and structural equation models to estimating instrumental variables are presented. A subset of the longitudinal educational and home background data on children born in England, Wales and Scotland in a March week of 1958 is…

This study compared five density estimation techniques applied to samples from a population of 272,244 examinees' ACT English Usage and Mathematics Usage raw scores. Unsmoothed frequencies, kernel method, negative hypergeometric, four-parameter beta compound binomial, and Cureton-Tukey methods were applied to 500 replications of random samples of…

Attitude measures frequently produce distributions of item scores that attenuate interitem correlations and thus also distort findings regarding the factor structure underlying the items. An actual data set involving 260 adult subjects' responses to 55 items on the Love Relationships Scale is employed to illustrate empirical methods for…

The use of Bayesian decision theory to solve problems in test-based decision making is discussed. Four basic decision problems are distinguished: (1) selection; (2) mastery; (3) placement; and (4) classification, the situation where each treatment has its own criterion. Each type of decision can be identified as a specific configuration of one or…

This paper presents an introduction to the use of latent trait models for the estimation of domain scores. It was shown that these models provided an advantage over classical test theory and binomial error models in that unbiased estimates of true domain scores could be obtained even when items were not randomly selected from a universe of items.…

Some examinees' test-taking behavior may be so idiosyncratic that their scores are not comparable to the scores of more typical examinees. Appropriateness indices, which provide quantitative measures of response-pattern atypicality, can be viewed as statistics for testing a null hypothesis of normal test-taking behavior against an alternative…