The Impact of Missing Data on Parameter Estimation: Three Examples in Computerized Adaptive Testing.

In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), examinees see items targeted to their ability level. Postoperational data have a high degree of missing information relative to designs where everyone answers all questions. Item responses are observed over a restricted range of abilities, reducing item-total...

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Publicado en:Educational & Psychological Measurement Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 617 - 636
Autores principales: Liu, Xiaowen, Loken, Eric
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Jun2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2025
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        atl: The Impact of Missing Data on Parameter Estimation: Three Examples in Computerized Adaptive Testing.
      aug:
        au:
          Liu, Xiaowen
          Loken, Eric
        affil:
          Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
          Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, China
          Tianjin Key Laboratory of Student Mental Health and Intelligence Assessment, China
          Department of Educational Psychology, NEAG School of Education, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
      su:
        Parameters (Statistics)
        Computer adaptive testing
        Statistical models
        Scientific errors
        Research funding
        Data analysis
        High performance computing
        Probability theory
        Research methodology evaluation
        Descriptive statistics
        Mathematical statistics
        Simulation methods in education
        Content mining
        Statistics
        Research methodology
      sug:
        subj:
          Parameters (Statistics)
          Computer adaptive testing
          Statistical models
          Scientific errors
          Research funding
          Data analysis
          High performance computing
          Probability theory
          Research methodology evaluation
          Descriptive statistics
          Mathematical statistics
          Simulation methods in education
          Content mining
          Statistics
          Research methodology
      keyword:
        computerized adaptive testing
        item response theory
        missing data
        computerized adaptive testing
        item response theory
        missing data
      ab: In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), examinees see items targeted to their ability level. Postoperational data have a high degree of missing information relative to designs where everyone answers all questions. Item responses are observed over a restricted range of abilities, reducing item-total score correlations. However, if the adaptive item selection depends only on observed responses, the data are missing at random (MAR). We simulated data from three different testing designs (common items, randomly selected items, and CAT) and found that it was possible to re-estimate both person and item parameters from postoperational CAT data. In a multidimensional CAT, we show that it is necessary to include all responses from the testing phase to avoid violating missing data assumptions. We also observed that some CAT designs produced "reversals" where item discriminations became negative causing dramatic under and over-estimation of abilities. Our results apply to situations where researchers work with data drawn from adaptive testing or from instructional tools with adaptive delivery. To avoid bias, researchers must make sure they use all the data necessary to meet the MAR assumptions.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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