This paper describes and evaluates the use of decision theory as a tool for classifying examinees based on their item response patterns. Decision theory, developed by A. Wald (1947) and now widely used in engineering, agriculture, and computing, provides a simple model for the analysis of categorical data. Measurement decision theory requires only…

Continuation ratio logits are used to model the possibilities of obtaining ordered categories in a polytomously scored item. This model is an alternative to other models for ordered category items such as the graded response model and the generalized partial credit model. The discussion includes a theoretical development of the model, a…

This article organizes models for categorical item response data into three distinct classes. "Difference models" are appropriate for ordered responses, "divide-by-total" models for either ordered or nominal responses, and "left-side added" models for multiple-choice responses with guessing. Details of the taxonomy…

The effect of large, within-examinee item difficulty variability on estimates of the proportion of consistent classification of examinees into mastery categories was studied over 2 test administrations for 100 simulated examinees. The proportion of consistent classifications was adequately estimated using the technique proposed by M. Subkoviak…

Ways in which the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) can be used to perform some Rasch analyses are described in detail. It is shown how SPSS and a set of item calibrations can be used to estimate person abilities, standard errors of measurement, test characteristic curve, test information curve, classification consistency on a…