Bücher von Howard Wainer

An intro to computerized adaptive testing including computer technology, test development, statistics, and mental test theory. Accessible approach makes it ideal for both novices and professionals interested in testing in ed, psych, & social sciences

This extraordinary book provides a journey through the jungle of good and bad graphical devices used to illustrate and mystify data. The author illustrates how a well-chosen graphic can reveal in an instant the essential truth behind some data, whilst a poorly designed representation can be used to conceal the awful truth.

The measurement models employed to score tests have been evolving over the past century from those that focus on the entire test (true score theory) to models that focus on individual test items (item response theory) to models that use small groups of items (testlets) as the fungible unit from which tests are constructed and scored (testlet response theory, or TRT). In this book, the inventors of TRT trace the history of this evolution and explain the character of modern TRT. Written for researchers and professionals in statistics, psychometrics, and educational psychology, the first part offers an accessible introduction to TRT and its applications. The second part presents a comprehensive, self-contained discussion of the model couched within a fully Bayesian framework. Its parameters are estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures, and the resulting posterior distributions of the parameter estimates yield insights into score stability that were previously unsuspected.