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ERIC Number: EJ977575
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jan
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1531-7714
EISSN: N/A
Fixing the c Parameter in the Three-Parameter Logistic Model
Han, Kyung T.
Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, v17 n1 Jan 2012
For several decades, the "three-parameter logistic model" (3PLM) has been the dominant choice for practitioners in the field of educational measurement for modeling examinees' response data from multiple-choice (MC) items. Past studies, however, have pointed out that the c-parameter of 3PLM should not be interpreted as a guessing parameter. This study found logical, empirical evidence showing that neither the "a-", "b-", or "c-" parameters of 3PLM can accurately reflect the discrimination, difficulty, and guessing properties of an item, respectively. This study reconceptualized the problem-solving and guessing processes with a modification of the 3PLM that eliminates ambiguity in modeling the guessing process. A series of studies using various real and simulated data demonstrated that the suggested model, in which the c-parameters were fixed at a computed probability for successful random guessing (i.e., c = 1 / k with k being the number of options), could provide a more feasible, stable, and accurate item estimation solution without sacrificing the model fit compared with a typical 3PLM. (Contains 15 figures, 4 tables and 1 footnote.)
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: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A