Data harmonization is an emerging approach to strategically combining data from multiple independent studies, enabling addressing new research questions that are not answerable by a single contributing study. A fundamental psychometric challenge for data harmonization is to create commensurate measures for the constructs of interest across…

Measurement invariance (MI) is required for validly comparing latent constructs measured by multiple ordinal self-report items. Non-invariances may occur when disregarding (group differences in) an acquiescence response style (ARS; an agreeing tendency regardless of item content). If non-invariance results solely from neglecting ARS, one should…

Adaptive measurement of change (AMC) is a psychometric method for measuring intra-individual change on one or more latent traits across testing occasions. Three hypothesis tests--a Z test, likelihood ratio test, and score ratio index--have demonstrated desirable statistical properties in this context, including low false positive rates and high…

Item-level fit analysis not only serves as a complementary check to global fit analysis, it is also essential in scale development because the fit results will guide item revision and/or deletion (Liu & Maydeu-Olivares, 2014). During data collection, missing response data may likely happen due to various reasons. Chi-square-based item fit…

Traditional psychometric guidelines suggest that at least several hundred respondents are needed to obtain accurate parameter estimates under the Rasch model. However, recent research indicates that Rasch equating results in accurate parameter estimates with sample sizes as small as 25. Item parameter drift under the Rasch model has been…

Multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models have generated increasing interest in the psychometrics literature. Efficient approaches for estimating MIRT models with dichotomous responses have been developed, but constructing an equally efficient and robust algorithm for polytomous models has received limited attention. To address this gap,…

This study evaluated the psychometric quality of a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) version of the general cognitive ability test (GCAT), using a simulation study protocol put forth by Han, K. T. (2018a). For the needs of the analysis, three different sets of items were generated, providing an item pool of 165 items. Before evaluating the…

The measurement error in principal components extracted from a set of fallible measures is discussed and evaluated. It is shown that as long as one or more measures in a given set of observed variables contains error of measurement, so also does any principal component obtained from the set. The error variance in any principal component is shown…

More robust and rigorous psychometric models, such as multidimensional Item Response Theory models, have been advocated for survey applications. However, item responses may be influenced by construct-irrelevant variance factors such as preferences for extreme response options. Through empirical and simulation methods, this study evaluates the use…

Questionnaires that include items eliciting count responses are becoming increasingly common in psychology. This study proposes methodological techniques to overcome some of the challenges associated with analyzing multivariate item response data that exhibit zero inflation, maximum inflation, and heaping at preferred digits. The modeling…

Determining the error of measurement is a necessity for researchers engaged in bench chemistry, chemistry education research (CER), and a multitude of other fields. Discussions regarding what constructs measurement error entails and how to best measure them have occurred, but the critiques about traditional measures have yielded few alternatives.…

In common-item equating the anchor block is generally built to represent a miniature form of the total test in terms of content and statistical specifications. The statistical properties frequently reflect equal mean and spread of item difficulty. Sinharay and Holland (2007) suggested that the requirement for equal spread of difficulty may be too…

Most dichotomous item response models share the assumption of latent monotonicity, which states that the probability of a positive response to an item is a nondecreasing function of a latent variable intended to be measured. Latent monotonicity cannot be evaluated directly, but it implies manifest monotonicity across a variety of observed scores,…

The Graded Response Model (GRM; Samejima, "Estimation of ability using a response pattern of graded scores," Psychometric Monograph No. 17, Richmond, VA: The Psychometric Society, 1969) can be derived by assuming a linear regression of a continuous variable, Z, on the trait, [theta], to underlie the ordinal item scores (Takane & de Leeuw in…

Test equating is a statistical procedure for adjusting for test form differences in difficulty in a standardized assessment. Equating results are supposed to hold for a specified target population (Kolen & Brennan, 2004; von Davier, Holland, & Thayer, 2004) and to be (relatively) independent of the subpopulations from the target population (see…