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ERIC Number: EJ736426
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 14
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0655
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Definition and Measurement of Selection Bias: From Constant Ratio to Constant Difference
Cahan, Sorel; Gamliel, Eyal
Journal of Educational Measurement, v43 n2 p131-144 Sum 2006
Despite its intuitive appeal and popularity, Thorndike's constant ratio (CR) model for unbiased selection is inherently inconsistent in "n"-free selection. Satisfaction of the condition for unbiased selection, when formulated in terms of success/acceptance probabilities, usually precludes satisfaction by the converse probabilities of rejection/failure, and vice versa. This paper suggests that this inconsistency is unavoidable due to the (negative) linear relation between "percent accepted" ("P") and "percent rejected" (1--"P"), which does not preserve ratios and, thus, invalidates the conceptualization and measurement of selection bias in ratio terms. Therefore, we propose to substitute the CR model with a constant difference (CD) model for the definition and measurement of selection bias, and show the latter's underlying rationale and its applicability in both "n"-free and fixed-"n" selection.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A