Item Map Interpretation

Laying out items by difficulty and classification in an item map aids interpretation and inquiry. Smith and Young (1995) present an item map based on the responses of 118 children to 26 items relating to how they liked a story. The clear superiority of the map over conventional tabular displays is evident.

Excerpt from Smith & Young's Table 1.
A List of Items and Summary Statistics
Items                           Rating:  Mean  S.D.
1.   I like this type of story           1.80  0.74
2.   I like stories by this author       1.62  0.58
3.   This story was easy to read         2.39  0.60
.
26.  Now that I've read this story..     1.09  0.77

In their Table 1 (excerpted here) are presented the means and standard deviations of the raw ratings to the 26 items. The items were rated on a 4 category scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Nothing jumps out at the reader from the undifferentiated list of 26 numbers in two columns.

Excerpt for Smith & Young's Table 3.
A List of Items and Logit Values
Items                                Logit
1.   I like this (type) of story      -.44
2.   I like stories by this (author)   .01
3.   This story was (easy) to read   -1.87

Their Table 3 (also excerpted here) advances to the use of logits and classifies the items into three types: "Relating to surface features of a story", "Relating to experience of reading", and "Relating to effect of a story". It is immediately obvious that the classification also stratifies the items by difficulty. The paper then uses the logit values and classification to draw the map shown here.

The general advance of the construct is clear: surface features => experience of reading => effect. But there are exceptions. Why is "challenge" so hard and "picture" so easy? The text of the paper provides explanations, which are noted on the map. Not all exceptions to the underlying pattern have simple explanations, e.g., this sample's unexpectedly high agreement with "I could really relate to the characters." But now both confirmations of and challenges to the theory of reading underlying the item classification are manifest. The item map communicates the findings of the paper concisely and powerfully in a way that no table of numbers could ever do.

Item Map


Smith M.W., Young J.W. (1995) Assessing secondary students' liking of short stories. Journal of Educational Research 89(1) 14-22. September/October.


Item map interpretation. Smith MW, Young JW. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1995, 9:3 p.446



Rasch-Related Resources: Rasch Measurement YouTube Channel
Rasch Measurement Transactions & Rasch Measurement research papers - free An Introduction to the Rasch Model with Examples in R (eRm, etc.), Debelak, Strobl, Zeigenfuse Rasch Measurement Theory Analysis in R, Wind, Hua Applying the Rasch Model in Social Sciences Using R, Lamprianou El modelo métrico de Rasch: Fundamentación, implementación e interpretación de la medida en ciencias sociales (Spanish Edition), Manuel González-Montesinos M.
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch Rasch Models for Measurement, David Andrich Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson Best Test Design - free, Wright & Stone
Rating Scale Analysis - free, Wright & Masters
Virtual Standard Setting: Setting Cut Scores, Charalambos Kollias Diseño de Mejores Pruebas - free, Spanish Best Test Design A Course in Rasch Measurement Theory, Andrich, Marais Rasch Models in Health, Christensen, Kreiner, Mesba Multivariate and Mixture Distribution Rasch Models, von Davier, Carstensen
Rasch Books and Publications: Winsteps and Facets
Applying the Rasch Model (Winsteps, Facets) 4th Ed., Bond, Yan, Heene Advances in Rasch Analyses in the Human Sciences (Winsteps, Facets) 1st Ed., Boone, Staver Advances in Applications of Rasch Measurement in Science Education, X. Liu & W. J. Boone Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences (Winsteps) Boone, Staver, Yale Appliquer le modèle de Rasch: Défis et pistes de solution (Winsteps) E. Dionne, S. Béland
Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets), Thomas Eckes Rasch Models for Solving Measurement Problems (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Jue Wang Statistical Analyses for Language Testers (Facets), Rita Green Invariant Measurement with Raters and Rating Scales: Rasch Models for Rater-Mediated Assessments (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Stefanie Wind Aplicação do Modelo de Rasch (Português), de Bond, Trevor G., Fox, Christine M
Exploring Rating Scale Functioning for Survey Research (R, Facets), Stefanie Wind Rasch Measurement: Applications, Khine Winsteps Tutorials - free
Facets Tutorials - free
Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets) - free, J.M. Linacre Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Winsteps, Facets), McNamara, Knoch, Fan

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
Oct. 4 - Nov. 8, 2024, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Measurement - Core Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
Jan. 17 - Feb. 21, 2025, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Measurement - Core Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
May 16 - June 20, 2025, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Measurement - Core Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com
June 20 - July 18, 2025, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Measurement - Further Topics (E. Smith, Facets), www.statistics.com
Oct. 3 - Nov. 7, 2025, Fri.-Fri. On-line workshop: Rasch Measurement - Core Topics (E. Smith, Winsteps), www.statistics.com

 

The URL of this page is www.rasch.org/rmt/rmt93f.htm

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