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Exact and Best Confidence Intervals for the Ability Parameter of the Rasch Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Karl Christoph Klauer
Karl Christoph Klauer*
Affiliation:
Freie Universität Berlin
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to Karl Christoph Klauer, FU Berlin, Institut für Psychologie, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 1000 Berlin 33, FR GERMANY.
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Abstract

A commonly used method to evaluate the accuracy of a measurement is to provide a confidence interval that contains the parameter of interest with a given high probability. Smallest exact confidence intervals for the ability parameter of the Rasch model are derived and compared to the traditional, asymptotically valid intervals based on the Fisher information. Tables of the exact confidence intervals, termed Clopper-Pearson intervals, can be routinely drawn up by applying a computer program designed by and obtainable from the author. These tables are particularly useful for tests of only moderate lengths where the asymptotic method does not provide valid confidence intervals.

Keywords

item response theoryability measurementtest information
Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 535 - 547
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Psychometric Society

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