A group-process approach to standard setting was compared to an independent approach for a medical specialty certification examination. Both approaches used the Angoff (1971) standard-setting method. In the group-process method, reviewers discussed items and their ratings during the rating process; in the independent condition, reviewers provided…

Research from social psychology on the effects of group discussion and of exposure to the opinions of other group members on the decisions groups make is reviewed. The pertinence of this research to standard-setting practices is considered, and the implications for the design of standard-setting procedures are explored. (SLD)

This study examined whether two variations on the typical Angoff group standard-setting process would produce sufficiently consistent results to recommend their use. The results imply that judgments gathered after an initial traditional group-process session can provide an efficient alternative mechanism for setting cutting scores using the Angoff…