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ERIC Number: EJ1083120
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Nov
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1531-7714
EISSN: N/A
Methods for Examining the Psychometric Quality of Subscores: A Review and Application
Wedman, Jonathan; Lyrén, Per-Erik
Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, v20 n21 Nov 2015
When subscores on a test are reported to the test taker, the appropriateness of reporting them depends on whether they provide useful information above what is provided by the total score. Subscores that fail to do so lack adequate psychometric quality and should not be reported. There are several methods for examining the quality of subscores, and in this study seven such methods, four of which are based on classical test theory and three of which are based on item response theory, were reviewed and applied to empirical data. The data consisted of test takers' scores on four test forms--two administrations of a first version of a college admission test and two administrations of a second version--and the analyses were carried out on the subtest and section levels. The two section scores were found to have adequate psychometric quality with all methods used, whereas the results for subtest scores ranged from almost all scores having adequate psychometric quality to none having adequate psychometric quality. The authors recommend using Haberman's method and the related utility index because of their solid theoretical foundation and because of various issues with the other subscore quality methods.
Center for Educational Assessment. 813 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002. e-mail: pare@umass.edu; Tel: 413-577-2180; Web site: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/pare
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A