Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for FREE ACCESS to this landmark database

Click here for more information on Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, 3e

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Applied Psychological Measurement
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Finch, H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Article

Item Parameter Estimation for the MIRT Model: Bias and Precision of Confirmatory Factor Analysis-Based Models

Holmes Finch*

Ball State University

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: whfinch{at}bsu.edu.


  Abstract
The accuracy of item parameter estimates in the multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model context is one that has not been researched in great detail. This study examines the ability of two confirmatory factor analysis models specifically for dichotomous data to properly estimate item parameters using common formulae for converting factor loadings and thresholds to discrimination and difficulty indices. The two MIRT estimation methods included in this research, unweighted least squares (ULS) and robust weighted least squares (RWLS), and the unidimensional estimation approach used are accessible in the widely distributed software packages NOHARM, Mplus, and BILOGMG, respectively. These techniques have been assessed in terms of the overall accuracy, bias, and standard error of item parameter estimates under a variety of sample sizes, test lengths, intertrait correlations, pseudo-guessing, and latent trait distribution conditions. Results indicate that there exists a complex relationship between these manipulated factors and the estimation accuracy of these methods. Recommendations for practice in light of these results are provided.

First published on August 17, 2009
Applied Psychological Measurement 2009, doi:10.1177/0146621609336112
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?