Rater-mediated activities in educational research occur when an expert judge or rater utilizes an instrument to judge persons or items and generates scale scores. Scale scores are from a subjective judgment and must undergo a quality control measure called rating quality. Rating quality in this study is broadly defined as the extent to which…

This dissertation presents a comprehensive review of the evolution of DIF analysis within educational measurement from the 1980s to the present. The review elucidates the concept of DIF, particularly emphasizing the crucial role of grouping for exhibiting DIF. Then, the dissertation introduces an innovative modification to the newly developed…

Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT) has been widely used in educational and psychological assessments. It estimates multiple constructs simultaneously and models the correlations among latent constructs. While it provides more accurate results, the unidimensional IRT model is still dominant in real applications. One major reason is that…

The present study investigates the influence of multidimensionality on linking and equating in a unidimensional IRT. Two hypothetical multidimensional scenarios are explored under a nonequivalent group common-item equating design. The first scenario examines test forms designed to measure multiple constructs, while the second scenario examines a…

A research question that is of interest across many disciplines is whether and how relationships in a network are related to the attributes of the nodes of the network. In this dissertation, we propose two joint frameworks for modeling the relationship between the network and attributes. In the joint latent space model in Chapter 2, shared latent…

This study was conducted to further research into the impact of student-group item parameter drift (SIPD) --referred to as subpopulation item parameter drift in previous research-- on ability estimates and proficiency classification accuracy when occurring in the discrimination parameter of a 2-PL item response theory (IRT) model. Using Monte…

In many large-scale testing programs, examinees are frequently categorized into different performance levels. These classifications are then used to make high-stakes decisions about examinees in contexts such as in licensure, certification, and educational assessments. Numerous approaches to estimating the consistency and accuracy of this…

When measuring latent constructs, for example, language ability, we use statistical models to specify appropriate relationships between the latent construct and observe responses to test items. These models rely on theoretical assumptions to ensure accurate parameter estimates for valid inferences based on the test results. This dissertation…

Educational research outcomes frequently rely on an assumption that measurement metrics have interval-level properties. While most investigators know enough to be suspicious of interval-level claims, and in some cases even question their findings given such doubts, there is a lack of understanding regarding the measurement conditions that create…

Test score comparability in international large-scale assessments (LSA) is of utmost importance in measuring the effectiveness of education systems and understanding the impact of education on economic growth. To effectively compare test scores on an international scale, score linking is widely used to convert raw scores from different linguistic…

In conducting confirmatory factor analysis with ordered response items, the literature suggests that when the number of responses is five and item skewness (IS) is approximately normal, researchers can employ maximum likelihood with robust standard errors (MLR). However, MLR can yield biased factor loadings (FL) and FL standard errors (FLSE) when…

The Q-diffusion model is a cognitive process model that considers decision making as an unobservable information accumulation process. Both item and person parameters decide the trace line of the cognitive process, which further decides observed response and response time. Because the likelihood function for the Q-diffusion model is intractable,…

Digitally-based assessments create opportunities for collecting moment to moment information about how students are responding to assessment items. This information, called log or process data, has long been regarded as a vast and valuable source of data about student performance. Despite repeated assurances of its vastness and value, process data…

Prior research highlights the benefits of multimode surveys and best practices for item-by-item (IBI) and matrix-type survey items. Some researchers have explored whether mode differences for online and paper surveys persist for these survey item types. However, no studies discuss measurement invariance when both item types and online modes are…

Item response theory (IRT) is currently the dominant methodological paradigm in educational and psychological measurement. IRT models are based on assumptions about the relationship between latent traits and observed responses, so the accuracy of the methodology depends heavily on the reasonableness of these assumptions. This dissertation consists…