Abstract
Although classical test theory (CTT) has defined the standard of questionnaire development for several decades, an increasing number of standardized tests are now developed using item response theory (IRT) as an alternative to CTT. Unlike CTT, the examinee’s true score is not test dependent, and the item parameters are not sample dependent, therefore the parallel test assumption is not necessary in IRT. IRT also includes indices to discern the strength and weakness of each item in a test. For example, we can distinguish good and bad items in terms of how much information an item provides about examinees’ trait levels. Further, IRT provides solutions for many practical testing problems such as equating different test forms and examining measurement bias. IRT models can be appropriately applied to many measures in behavioral medicine, such as measures of psychopathology, moods, behavioral dispositions, and situational evaluations. Therefore, application of IRT models and associated methods can solve many practical problems in behavioral medicine.
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Kim-O, MA., Embretson, S.E. (2010). Item Response Theory and Its Application to Measurement in Behavioral Medicine. In: Steptoe, A. (eds) Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09488-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09488-5_9
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