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Basic Concepts in Item and Test Analysis - Part1

The document discusses basic concepts in item and test analysis. It summarizes recommendations for best practices in item and test analysis as reported in commonly used measurement textbooks. Some key aspects discussed include item difficulty, item discrimination, and item distractors. The analysis can evaluate test quality and identify areas for improvement.

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97 views1 page

Basic Concepts in Item and Test Analysis - Part1

The document discusses basic concepts in item and test analysis. It summarizes recommendations for best practices in item and test analysis as reported in commonly used measurement textbooks. Some key aspects discussed include item difficulty, item discrimination, and item distractors. The analysis can evaluate test quality and identify areas for improvement.

Uploaded by

kunichiwa
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Basic Concepts in Item and Test Analysis

Basic Concepts in Item and Test Analysis


Susan Matlock-Hetzel
Texas A&M University, January 1997

Abstract
When norm-referenced tests are developed for instructional
purposes, to assess the effects of educational programs, or
for educational research purposes, it can be very important to conduct item and test analyses. These analyses evaluate
the quality of the items and of the test as a whole. Such analyses can also be employed to revise and
improve both items
and the test as a whole. However, some best practices in item and test analysis are too infrequently used in actual

practice. The purpose of the present paper is to summarize the recommendations for item and test analysis practices, as
these are reported in commonly-used measurement textbooks (Crocker & Algina, 1986; Gronlund & Linn, 1990;
Pedhazur & Schemlkin, 1991; Sax, 1989; Thorndike, Cunningham, Thorndike, & Hagen, 1991).

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, Austin, January, 1997.

Basic Concepts in Item and Test Analysis


Making fair and systematic evaluations of others' performance can be a challenging task. Judgments cannot be made
solely on the basis of intuition, haphazard guessing, or custom (Sax, 1989). Teachers, employers, and others in
evaluative positions use a variety of
tools to assist them in their evaluations. Tests are tools that are frequently used to
facilitate the evaluation process. When norm-referenced tests are developed for instructional purposes, to assess the
effects of educational programs, or for educational research purposes, it can be very important to conduct item and test
analyses.
Test analysis examines how the test items perform as a set. Item analysis "investigates the performance of items
considered individually either in relation to some external criterion or in relation to the remaining items on the test"
(Thompson & Levitov, 1985, p. 163). These analyses evaluate the quality of items and of the test as a whole.
Such
analyses can also be employed to revise and improve both items and
the test as a whole.
However, some best practices in item and test analysis are too infrequently used in actual practice. The purpose of the
present paper is to summarize the recommendations for item and test analysis practices, as these are reported in
commonly-used measurement textbooks (Crocker & Algina, 1986; Gronlund & Linn, 1990; Pedhazur & Schemlkin,
1991; Sax, 1989; Thorndike, Cunningham, Thorndike, & Hagen, 1991). These tools include item difficulty, item
discrimination, and item distractors.
Item Difficulty
Item difficulty is simply the percentage of students taking the test who answered the item correctly. The larger the
percentage getting an item right, the easier the item. The higher the difficulty index, the easier the item is understood to
be (Wood, 1960). To compute the item difficulty, divide the number of people answering the item correctly by the total
number of people answering item. The proportion for the item is usually denoted as p and is called item difficulty
(Crocker & Algina, 1986). An item answered correctly by 85% of the examinees would have an item difficulty, or p
value, of .85, whereas an item answered correctly by 50% of the examinees would have a lower item difficulty, or p
value, of .50.
A p value is basically a behavioral measure. Rather than defining difficulty in terms of some intrinsic characteristic of
the item, difficulty is defined in terms of the relative frequency with which those taking the test choose the correct
response (Thorndike et al, 1991). For instance, in the example below, which item is more difficult?

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