Quantifying Item Dependency

Some items are more closely related than others. Comprehension items that address the same written text and arithmetic items requiring the same operation are examples. In Rasch analysis, this is no major source for concern provided there is no extreme systematic dependency between two or a few items. When such dependency does exist, combining the separate items into one partial-credit item may be useful. Low values of the Rasch INFIT statistic signal dependency. When a diagnostically specific investigation of inter-item dependency is required, Fisher's Z is useful.

1)Obtain the Rasch-based standardized residuals for each observation of Person n on item i:

zni = (Observedni - Expectedni)/Standard Errorni

2)Correlate the standardized residuals for all pairs of items i, j across all N persons:

rij = (sum(zni znj) - sum(zni)sum(znj)/N) / N SD(zni) SD(znj)

3)Use Fisher's Z to linearize Pearson correlations:

Zij = 1/2 Loge( (1+rij)/(1-rij) )

4)Draw a histogram of the Fisher Z values. Noticeable positive skew (see Figures) indicates the presence of sets of dependent items. A cluster analysis of the Z matrix will identify the sets. Outlying positive Z values flag pairs or sets of highly dependent items for further investigation.

Fisher's z for dependent items


Fisher's z for independent items



Quantifying item dependency. Shen L. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1996, 10:1 p.485



Rasch Publications
Rasch Measurement Transactions (free, online) Rasch Measurement research papers (free, online) Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch
Applying the Rasch Model 2nd. Ed., Bond & Fox Best Test Design, Wright & Stone Rating Scale Analysis, Wright & Masters
Introduction to Rasch Measurement, E. Smith & R. Smith Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement, Thomas Eckes Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, George Engelhard, Jr.
Statistical Analyses for Language Testers, Rita Green Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar Journal of Applied Measurement

To be emailed about new material on www.rasch.org
please enter your email address here:

I want to Subscribe: & click below
I want to Unsubscribe: & click below

Please set your SPAM filter to accept emails from Rasch.org

www.rasch.org welcomes your comments:

Your email address (if you want us to reply):

 

ForumRasch Measurement Forum to discuss any Rasch-related topic

Go to Top of Page
Go to index of all Rasch Measurement Transactions
AERA members: Join the Rasch Measurement SIG and receive the printed version of RMT
Some back issues of RMT are available as bound volumes
Subscribe to Journal of Applied Measurement

Go to Institute for Objective Measurement Home Page. The Rasch Measurement SIG (AERA) thanks the Institute for Objective Measurement for inviting the publication of Rasch Measurement Transactions on the Institute's website, www.rasch.org.

Coming Rasch-related Events
June 19-21, 2013, Wed.-Fri. SIS 2013 Conference on Advances in Latent Variables: Methods, Models and Applications, Brescia, Italy, meetings.sis-statistica.org/index.php/sis2013/ALV
July 1 - Nov. 30, 2013, Mon.-Sun. Online Course: Introduction to Rasch Measurement Theory (D. Andrich, RUMM), www.education.uwa.edu.au/ppl/courses
July 5 - Aug. 2, 2013, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Practical Rasch Measurement - Further Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
July 15, 2013, Monday Application deadline: UIC Educational Research Methodology online graduate certificate program, www.go.uic.edu/OnlineMESA
July 22, 2013, Monday Submission deadline: 2014 AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia PA, www.aera.net
Aug.1-5, 2013, Thur.-Mon. TERA-PROMS Annual Meeting, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, tera.education.nsysu.edu.tw
Aug. 9 - Sept. 6, 2013, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (E. Smith, Facets), www.statistics.com
Aug. 22, 2013, Thursday. Symposium in honor of Svend Kreiner, Copenhagen, Denmark, biostat.ku.dk/kreinersymposium
Sept. 4-6, 2013, Wed.-Fri. IMEKO TC1-TC7-TC13 Symposium: Measurement Across Physical and Behavioural Sciences, Genoa, Italy, www.imeko-genoa-2013.it
Sept. 13 - Oct. 11, 2013, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Applications in Clinical Assessment, Survey Research, and Educational Measurement (W.P. Fisher), www.statistics.com
Sept. 18-20, 2013, Wed.-Fri. In-person workshop: Introductory Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
Sept. 23-25, 2013, Mon.-Wed. In-person workshop: Intermediate Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
Sept. 26-27, 2013, Thurs.-Fri. In-person workshop: Advanced Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
Oct. 18 - Nov. 15, 2013, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Practical Rasch Measurement - Core Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
Oct. 20 - Oct. 25, 2013, Sun.-Fri. International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) 39th Annual Conference, Tel Aviv, Israel, www.iaea-2013.com
Dec. 11-13, 2013, Wed.-Fri. In-person workshop: Introductory Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
March 12-14, 2014, Wed.-Fri. In-person workshop: Introductory Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
April 3-7, 2014, Thurs.-Mon. AERA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia PA, www.aera.net
May 14-16, 2014, Wed.-Fri. In-person workshop: Introductory Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
May 19-21, 2013, Mon.-Wed. In-person workshop: Intermediate Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
July 4 - Aug. 1, 2014, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Practical Rasch Measurement - Further Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
Aug. 8 - Sept. 5, 2014, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (E. Smith, Facets), www.statistics.com
Sept. 10-12, 2014, Wed.-Fri. In-person workshop: Introductory Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
Sept. 12 - Oct. 10, 2014, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Applications in Clinical Assessment, Survey Research, and Educational Measurement (W.P. Fisher), www.statistics.com
Sept. 15-17, 2014, Mon.-Wed. In-person workshop: Intermediate Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
Sept. 18-19, 2014, Thurs.-Fri. In-person workshop: Advanced Rasch (A. Tennant, RUMM), Leeds, UK, www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/rehabmed/psychometric
The javascript to add "Coming Rasch-related Events" to your webpage is:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.rasch.org/events.txt"></script>

The URL of this page is www.rasch.org/rmt/rmt101p.htm

Website: www.rasch.org/rmt/contents.htm