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)

An extension of the Bock-Samejima model for multiple choice items is introduced. The model provides for varying probabilities of the response alternative when the examinee guesses. A marginal maximum likelihood method is devised for estimating the item parameters, and likelihood ratio tests for comparing more and less constrained forms of the…

This is a continuation of a previous study in which a new method of estimating the operating characteristics of discrete item responses based upon an Old Test, which has a non-constant test information function, was tested upon each of two subtests of the original Old Test, Subtests 1 and 2. The results turned out to be quite successful. In the…

In order to evaluate our methods and approaches of estimating the operating characteristics of discrete item responses, it is necessary to try other comparable methods on similar sets of data. LOGIST 5 was taken up for this reason, and was tried upon the hypothetical test items, which follow the normal ogive model and were used frequently in…

Methodology is suggested for several statistical procedures to detect polytomously scored items that function differently for two subgroups of examinees. The 3 methods are alternative ways of combining the data from 2 x "k" tables. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of two of the methods, designated HW1 and HW3. (SLD)

Appropriateness measurement is a general approach to the problem caused by multiple choice tests failing to measure accurately the ability of atypical examinees. The conceptual framework of appropriateness measurement is presented, and several statistical indices of the appropriateness of a multiple choice test for an examinee are noted. A series…

A new method for estimating the parameters of the normal ogive three-parameter model for multiple-choice test items--the normalized direct (NDIR) procedure--is examined. The procedure is compared to a more commonly used estimation procedure, Lord's LOGIST, using computer simulations. The NDIR procedure uses the normalized (mid-percentile)…

Simple sum procedure of the conditional PDF approach (plausiblity of distractor function) combined with the normal approach method was applied for estimating the plausibility functions of the distractors of the Level II vocabulary subtest items of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. In so doing, the normal ogive model was adopted for the correct…

Three methods of estimating test score distributions that may improve on using the observed frequencies (OBFs) as estimates of a population test score distribution are considered: the kernel method (KM); the polynomial method (PM); and the four-parameter beta binomial method (FPBBM). The assumption each method makes about the smoothness of the…

A variety of locally dependent models are introduced having individual difference parameters that may be interpreted as reflecting effective learning abilities. One version is a univariate extension of the Rasch model with a Markov property: the probability that a given individual will pass an item depends on previous items only through the…

A procedure for assessing content-area and total-test dimensionality which uses response function discrepancies (RFD) was studied. Three different versions of the RFD procedure were compared to Bejar's principal axis content-area procedure and Indow and Samejima's exploratory factor analytic technique. The procedures were compared in terms of the…

In multiple-choice items the response probability on an item may be viewed as the result of two distinct latent processes--a cognitive process to solve the problem, and another random process that leads to the choice of a certain alternative (the process of giving the actual response). An incomplete latent class model is formulated that describes…

Bias, standard error, and reliability of five ability estimators were evaluated using Monte Carlo estimates of the unknown conditional means and variances of the estimators. Results indicate that estimates based on Bayesian modal, expected a posteriori, and weighted likelihood estimators were reasonably unbiased with relatively small standard…

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)

A method for analyzing test-item responses is proposed to examine differential item functioning (DIF) in multiple-choice items within the latent class framework. Different models for detection of DIF are formulated, defining the subgroup as a latent variable. An efficient estimation method is described and illustrated. (SLD)