This paper addresses the information revealed in incorrect option selection on multiple choice items. Multilinear Formula Scoring (MFS), a theory providing methods for solving psychological measurement problems of long standing, is first used to estimate option characteristic curves for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Arithmetic…

This paper studied the usefulness of differential item functioning (DIF) methodology for examining potential mode effects. Although the goal was not to validate the comparability of the assessments per se, it is of interest to speculate why some formats could give rise to differential performance. Data were obtained from two instruments on which…

This study aimed to investigate farmers' attitudes and skills of farm management. Two scales were constructed as an instrument for data collection, based on a sample of 100 farm units. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.84 or higher, which indicated that the instrument scales were internally consistent. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze…

In person-fit analysis, the object is to investigate whether an item score pattern is improbable given the item score patterns of the other persons in the group or given what is expected on the basis of a test model. In this study, several existing group-based statistics to detect such improbable score patterns were investigated, along with the…

Research studies using booklet classification were implemented by the American College Testing Program to investigate the linkage between the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Achievement Levels Descriptions and the cutpoints set to represent student performance with respect to the achievement levels. This paper describes the…

In evaluation research studies, it often occurs that several program participants (experimentals) drop out of the program prior to completion. Since noncompleters generally differ substantially from completers in many respects, a control group which originally was representative of the participant group will most likely not be representative of…

When repeated measures are obtained on the same subjects, interobservation dependencies frequently are generated. The major ways in which these dependencies can arise are illustrated and it is shown how these dependencies may invalidate the use of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and its extension, trend analysis, as methods of evaluating the data of…

The Level-11 vocabulary subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills was analyzed using a two-stage latent trait approach and data set of 2,356 examinees, approximately 11 years of age. It is concluded that the nonparametric approach leads to efficient estimation of the latent trait. (SLD)

This paper is the final report of a multi-year project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1987 through 1990. The main objectives of the research summarized were to: investigate the non-parametric approach to the estimation of the operating characteristics of discrete item responses; revise and strengthen the package computer…

A strategy for comparing two sets of results (one based upon early childhood recollections (ECR) and another upon video taped (VT) group behavior) from the Perceptual Characteristics Rating Scale was developed. The null distribution of the mean deviation was estimated by randomly matching an ECR response vector with a VT response vector. To…

A nonparametric multicategorical model for multiple-choice data is proposed as an extension of the binary spline model of J. O. Ramsay and M. Abrahamowicz (1989). Results of two Monte Carlo studies illustrate the model, which approximates probability functions by rational splines. (SLD)

Examinations of costs and acquisition of facilities indicate that an Altair 8800A microcomputer with a program library of parametric, non-parametric, mathematical, and teaching programs can be used effectively for teaching college-level statistics. Statistical packages presently in use require extensive computing knowledge beyond the students' and…

STATGRAPHICS, a statistical package written for the IBM PC/XT/AT, is reviewed. In addition to superb graphics, STATGRAPHICS is unequalled in time series procedures, quality control, linear programming, and other mathematical procedures. The modules for regression analysis, categorical data analysis, and nonparametric analysis are good, but contain…

The sources of multidimensionality found in several different forms of a licensure examination were studied. The relationship between one source of multidimensionality, differential item functioning (DIF) (or factors producing DIF), and content characteristics was explored in an attempt to isolate aspects of training or curriculum that could…

Discusses how nonparametric statistical procedures can be applied to the scoring of cross-country running races. Asserts that this type of example in statistics is appropriate for the upper-secondary school and lower-division college levels. (MDH)