Rethinking the Interpretation of Item Discrimination and Factor Loadings

Autor/inn/en	Jordan, Pascal; Spiess, Martin
Titel	Rethinking the Interpretation of Item Discrimination and Factor Loadings
Quelle	In: Educational and Psychological Measurement, 79 (2019) 6, S.1103-1132 (30 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Jordan, Pascal) ORCID (Spiess, Martin)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-1644
DOI	10.1177/0013164419843164
Schlagwörter	Test Construction; Test Items; Item Response Theory; Factor Structure; Scoring; Factor Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Testaufbau; Test content; Testaufgabe; Item-Response-Theorie; Faktorenstruktur; Bewertung; Faktorenanalyse
Abstract	Factor loadings and item discrimination parameters play a key role in scale construction. A multitude of heuristics regarding their interpretation are hardwired into practice--for example, neglecting low loadings and assigning items to exactly one scale. We challenge the common sense interpretation of these parameters by providing counterexamples and general results which altogether cast doubt on our understanding of these parameters. In particular, we highlight the counterintuitive way in which the best prediction of a test taker's latent ability depends on the factor loadings. As a consequence, we emphasize that practitioners need to shift their focus from interpreting item discrimination parameters by their relative loading to an interpretation which incorporates the structure of the model-based latent ability estimate. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01