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ERIC Number: ED652811
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Exploratory Item Classification via Spectral Graph Clustering
Yunxiao Chen; Xiaoou Li; Jingchen Liu; Gongjun Xu; Zhiliang Ying
Grantee Submission, Applied Psychological Measurement v41 n8 p579-599 2017
Large-scale assessments are supported by a large item pool. An important task in test development is to assign items into scales that measure different characteristics of individuals, and a popular approach is cluster analysis of items. Classical methods in cluster analysis, such as the hierarchical clustering, K-means method, and latent-class analysis, often induce a high computational overhead and have difficulty handling missing data, especially in the presence of high-dimensional responses. In this article, the authors propose a spectral clustering algorithm for exploratory item cluster analysis. The method is computationally efficient, effective for data with missing or incomplete responses, easy to implement, and often outperforms traditional clustering algorithms in the context of high dimensionality. The spectral clustering algorithm is based on graph theory, a branch of mathematics that studies the properties of graphs. The algorithm first constructs a graph of items, characterizing the similarity structure among items. It then extracts item clusters based on the graphical structure, grouping similar items together. The proposed method is evaluated through simulations and an application to the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED); National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES); National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS); US Army Research Office (ARO); National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) (DOD); National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Eysenck Personality Inventory
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305D160010; R305D170042; 1323977; 1633360; W911NF1510159; H982301610299; R01GM047845
Author Affiliations: N/A