Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T11:52:27.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Item Selection Methods for Increasing Test Homogeneity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Harold Webster*
Affiliation:
Vassar College

Abstract

A number of methods for increasing test homogeneity by item selection are discussed. Exact selection conditions which will maximize obtained homogeneity as measured by KR - 20 and KR - 21 are derived, and an application is given. Since they require only item count data, the selection conditions are economical to apply.

Type
Original Paper
Copyright
Copyright © 1957 The Psychometric Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adkins, Dorothy C. A rational comparison of item-selection techniques. Psychol. Bull., 1938, 35, 655655Google Scholar
Bedell, B. J. Determination of the optimum number of items to retain in a test measuring a single ability. Psychometrika, 1950, 15, 419430CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronbach, L. J. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 1951, 16, 297334CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, F. B. Item analysis in relation to educational and psychological testing. Psychol. Bull., 1952, 49, 97119CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flanagan, J. C. The effectiveness of short methods for calculating correlation coefficients. Psychol. Bull., 1952, 49, 342348CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gough, H. C. and Peterson, D. R. The identification and measurement of predispositional factors in crime and delinquency. J. consult. Psychol., 1952, 16, 207212CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gulliksen, H. The relation of item difficulty and inter-item correlation to test variance and reliability. Psychometrika, 1945, 10, 7991CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulliksen, H. Theory of mental tests, New York: Wiley, 1950CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horst, P. Correcting the Kuder-Richardson reliability for dispersion of item difficulties. Psychol. Bull., 1953, 50, 371374CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuder, G. F. and Richardson, M. W. The theory of the estimation of test reliability. Psychometrika, 1937, 2, 151160CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loevinger, Jane A systematic approach to the construction and evaluation of tests of ability. Psychol. Monogr., 1947, 61, No. 4 (Whole No. 285).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loevinger, Jane, Gleser, Goldine C. and DuBois, P. H. Maximizing the discriminating power of a multiple-score test. Psychometrika, 1953, 18, 309317CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, F. M. Estimating test reliability. Educ. psychol. Measmt, 1955, 15, 325336CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, F. M. Sampling fluctuations resulting from the sampling of test items. Psychometrika, 1955, 20, 122CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lord, F. M. Some perspectives on “The attenuation paradox in test theory.”. Psychol. Bull., 1955, 52, 505510CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, L. R. Maximum validity of a test with equivalent items. Psychometrika, 1946, 11, 113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, H. Maximizing test validity by item selection. Psychometrika, 1956, 21, 153164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, H. Transformed statistics for use in test construction. Psychol. Bull., 1956, 53, 488492CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wherry, R. J. and Gaylord, R. H. The concept of test and item reliability in relation to factor pattern. Psychometrika, 1943, 8, 247264CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wherry, R. J. and Winer, B. J. A method for factoring large numbers of items. Psychometrika, 1953, 18, 161179CrossRefGoogle Scholar