Abstract
The purpose of item response theory, as with any test theory, is to provide a basis for making predictions, estimates, or inferences about abilities or traits measured by a test. In this chapter, several characteristics of ability scores will be considered: definitions, legitimate transformations, relationship to true scores and observed scores, and validity of interpretations.
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Note
The test characteristic function may also be defined as ΣP i (θ). However the average of the item response functions is more convenient and is used as the definition of the test characteristic function here.
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© 1985 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Hambleton, R.K., Swaminathan, H. (1985). Ability Scales. In: Item Response Theory. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1988-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1988-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5809-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1988-9
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