Items previously described as "negatively worded" are redefined as "connotatively inconsistent" because this term has a broader base for generalization. Using generalizability theory with a sample of 102 graduate students, the study showed that connotatively consistent and reversed connotatively inconsistent items were not…

A test item is defined as connotatively consistent (CC) or connotatively inconsistent (CI) when its connotation agrees with or contradicts that of the majority of items on a test. CC and CI items were examined in the Life Orientation Test and were shown to measure correlated but distinct traits. (SLD)

D.V. Budescu and J.L. Rogers (1981) proposed a method of adjusting correlations of scales to eliminate spurious components resulting from the overlapping of scales. Three reliability correction formulas are derived in this article that are based on more tenable assumptions. (SLD)

Effects of the following three variables on rating scale response were studied: (1) polarization of opinion regarding scale content; (2) intensity of item wording; and (3) psychological width of the scale. Results with 167 college students suggest best ways to balance polarization and item wording regardless of scale width. (SLD)

A FORTRAN 77 computer program is presented to perform analyses of differential item performance in psychometric tests. The program performs the Mantel-Haenszel procedure and computes additional classical indices of differential item functioning (DIF) and associated effect size measures. (Author/SLD)

A comprehensive review is given of evidence, with a bearing on the recommendation to avoid use of complex multiple choice (CMC) items. Avoiding Type K items (four primary responses and five secondary choices) seems warranted, but evidence against CMC in general is less clear. (SLD)

By administering an attitude survey to 3,328 parents of elementary school students, use of positive and negative Likert item stems was analyzed. Respondents who answered positive/negative item pairs that were parallel in meaning consistently were compared with those who answered inconsistently. Implications for construction of affective measures…

A University of Adelaide (Australia) study investigated the effect of administering identical stations to different classes over a 12-year period within the objective structured clinical examination component of a final-year medical school examination. Repeat administrations correlated with improved student performance over time. (Author/MSE)

This study empirically examined the behaviors of item and person statistics derived from item response theory and classical test theory, focusing on item and person statistics and using a large-scale statewide assessment. Findings show that the person and item statistics from the two measurement frameworks are quite comparable. (SLD)

This paper suggests several item selection criteria for adaptive testing that are all based on the use of the true posterior. Some of the ability estimators produced by these criteria are discussed and empirically criticized. (SLD)

Develops a mapping sentence to construct test items measuring academic and creative abilities in mathematics at four levels. Describes the three stages of the process of developing the mapping sentence and presents examples of test items representing each ability/level combination. Contains 63 references. (Author/ASK)

Describes content-validity theory and illustrates new and traditional approaches for conducting content-validity studies. Newer approaches are based on multidimensional scaling analysis of item-similarity ratings, while traditional approaches are based on ratings of item-objective congruence and relevance. (Author/SLD)

Compared results from computer-adaptive and self-adaptive tests under conditions in which item review was and was not permitted for 379 college students. Results suggest that, when given the opportunity, most examinees will change answers, but usually only to a small portion of items, resulting in some benefit to the test taker. (SLD)

Extends the basic Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) strategy of R. Patz and B. Junker (1999) for Bayesian inference in complex Item Response Theory settings to address issues such as nonresponse, designed missingness, multiple raters, guessing behaviors, and partial credit (polytomous) test items. Applies the MCMC method to data from the National…

Compared original intrinsic and extrinsic subscales of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnnaire short form to revised subscales using data from samples of 99 employees and 250 graduate and undergraduate students. Analyses from both samples indicate that revising the intrinsic and extrinsic subscales made little difference to the results obtained.…