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ERIC Number: EJ780706
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Oct
Pages: 25
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0027-3171
EISSN: N/A
Outlier Detection in Test and Questionnaire Data
Zijlstra, Wobbe P.; Van Der Ark, L. Andries; Sijtsma, Klaas
Multivariate Behavioral Research, v42 n3 p531-555 Oct 2007
Classical methods for detecting outliers deal with continuous variables. These methods are not readily applicable to categorical data, such as incorrect/correct scores (0/1) and ordered rating scale scores (e.g., 0,..., 4) typical of multi-item tests and questionnaires. This study proposes two definitions of outlier scores suited for categorical data. One definition combines information on outliers from scores on all the items in the test, and the other definition combines information from all pairs of item scores. For a particular item-score vector, an outlier score expresses the degree to which the item-score vector is unusual. For ten real-data sets, the distribution of each of the two outlier scores is inspected by means of Tukey's fences and the extreme studentized deviate procedure. It is investigated whether the outliers that are identified are influential with respect to the statistical analysis performed on these data. Recommendations are given for outlier identification and accommodation in test and questionnaire data. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)
Lawrence Erlbaum. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A