The effect of stratified sampling of items on the estimation of test score distribution parameters by multiple matrix sampling was studied. Item difficulty and/or interitem correlations were the bases of stratification. Various item iniverses were created by computer simulation and sampled according to several plans. The results indicate that…

Two forms of an undergraduate examination were constructed. Tests varied with respect to item truth value (true, false) and method of phrasing (positive, negative). Negatively stated items were more difficult but not more discriminating than positively stated items. False items were not more difficult but were more discriminating than true items.…

Results of assigning Holland codes to items seems reasonable, and the codes may be used in future item pool revisions to balance item content, to eliminate poorly defined items, and to select items that are perceived identically by females and males. (Author)

This study tested Deiker's hypothesis that "naysaying" accounts for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Overcontrolled-Hostility (O-H) scale's ability to discriminate among criminal groups differing in their propensity for violence. It was concluded that the validity of the O-H scale is not dependent on naysaying. (Author)

Results of research conducted to ascertain the effect on test grades of changing answer choices are presented. The main questions that were examined were: (1) Does the changing of responses to test items (presumably based upon item reconsideration) result in better test scores?; (2) Is the amount of changes related to the score a person receives…

Test bias has traditionally been defined in terms of an outside criterion measure of the performance being predicted by the test. In test construction, where criterion-related validity data are usually not collected until after the test is completed, assessment of bias in the absence of outside criteria had become a vital issue. Here, an unbiased…

The effects of option familiarity, length, and technicality on guessing or multiple choice items were investigated in two experiments. Generally, these college undergraduates tended to favor familiar, non-technical, and longer options when guessing on multiple choice tests. (JKS)

Range of analysis available, from simple scoring to corrected scores with item analysis, makes the program attractive to both inexperienced and experienced test administrators. (Authors)

The concepts "facet analysis,""facet design," and "facet structure" are defined. The FYCSP (First Year Communication Skills Program) Word Attack Test is analyzed in terms of two related facet structures. Stepwise linear regression is used to predict distractor attractiveness. Hypotheses suggested by Guttman relating…

A method of analysis is developed which accounts for whatever variance is present in the responses to test items, additive, configural or the two combined. The method is applied to successive column matrices which report frequencies or endorsements by categories of subjects to answer alternative sets of test items. Approaches are included which…

The DELPHI procedure requires respondents to reply to several questionnaire iterations with subsequent rounds containing previous round feedback. This study investigated the methodology (response rates, effects of feedback) and offered evidence that large-scale DELPHI surveys are not as advantageous as has previously been indicated. Suggestions…

Seven Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) items distinguish alcoholics in treatment from normals and psychiatric patients. These items have substantial face validity. MMPI scales developed as screening devices for alcoholism did not discriminate the alcoholics in treatment and the psychiatric patients as strongly as did these seven…

Few phenomena in psychology have been studied more than reaction time. However, while response latency now provides the basic data for research in many areas of cognitive psychology, little work has been done on the problem of incorporating response latency in the measurement of individual differences. A solution to this problem requires the…

This study examined similarities and differences between blacks' and whites' responses to rarely endorsed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) items, as well as those items responded to most differently by the ethnic groups. Our subjects, 882 normal black middle-class adults from Alabama, Michigan and North Carolina, were compared to…