Psychology Commons^™

Assessing The Ordinality Of Response Bias With Item Response Models: A Case Study Using The Phq-9, Venessa N. Singhroy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Improper scale usage in psychological and clinical assessment is an important problem. If respondents do not use the scales in a consistent manner, the reliability of a composite is likely to be attenuated. This is particularly problematic when particular items are singled out for special treatment or when subscales are of interest, not just a total score. This study used both non-parametric and parametric item response theory (IRT) methods to gain further insight into the validity of the PHQ-9, a dual purpose instrument that assesses the severity of depressive symptoms using nine Likert-scale items and allows the investigator to establish …

The Use Of Item Response Theory In Survey Methodology: Application In Seat Belt Data, Mark K. Ledbetter, Norou Diawara, Bryan E. Porter

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Problem: Several approaches to analyze survey data have been proposed in the literature. One method that is not popular in survey research methodology is the use of item response theory (IRT). Since accurate methods to make prediction behaviors are based upon observed data, the design model must overcome computation challenges, but also consideration towards calibration and proficiency estimation. The IRT model deems to be offered those latter options. We review that model and apply it to an observational survey data. We then compare the findings with the more popular weighted logistic regression. Method: Apply IRT model to the observed data …

Examining The Performance Of The Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro Algorithm In The Estimation Of Multilevel Multidimensional Irt Models, Bozhidar M. Bashkov

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The purpose of this study was to review the challenges that exist in the estimation of complex (multidimensional) models applied to complex (multilevel) data and to examine the performance of the recently developed Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro (MH-RM) algorithm (Cai, 2010a, 2010b), designed to overcome these challenges and implemented in both commercial and open-source software programs. Unlike other methods, which either rely on high-dimensional numerical integration or approximation of the entire multidimensional response surface, MH-RM makes use of Fisher’s Identity to employ stochastic imputation (i.e., data augmentation) via the Metropolis-Hastings sampler and then apply the stochastic approximation method of Robbins and Monro …

A Positive Trait Item Response Model, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

All current models from item response theory (IRT) assume the latent trait follows a standard normal distribution. While this assumption is appropriate for traits such as ability or attitude, it creates both conceptual and technical problems traits such as addiction (alcohol, drugs, gambling). The distribution of an addiction trait is better assumed to be anchored at zero (no addiction) and positively skewed. A small change to the usual IRT model yields a class of positive-trait item response models (PTIRMs). I discuss PTIRMs and present one model in detail, including item characteristic curves and item information curves. I present an example …

An Introduction To Item Response Theory For Health Behavior Researchers, Russell Warne

Russell T Warne

OBJECTIVE:

To introduce item response theory (IRT) to health behavior researchers by contrasting it with classical test theory and providing an example of IRT in health behavior.

METHOD:

Demonstrate IRT by fitting the 2PL model to substance-use survey data from the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior questionnaire (n=1343 adolescents).

RESULTS:

An IRT 2PL model can produce viable substance use scores that differentiate different levels of substance use, resulting in improved precision and specificity at the respondent level.

CONCLUSION:

IRT is a viable option for health researchers who want to produce high-quality scores for unidimensional constructs. The results from our example-although not …

Positive Trait Item Response Models, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

A new item response model is proposed for which the trait is positive. Three such models, the loglogistic, the log-normal, and the Weibull, are presented along with their item information curves. The data of seven addiction items from the DSM-IV from a study on alcohol addiction is analyzed by these three models using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The item characteristic curves and item information curves are presented for all three models. The person scores for four item response patterns are presented for the log-logistic model.