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Article
A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study Examining the Dimensionality of Educational Achievement Tests
NERA Conference Proceedings 2008
  • Nina Deng, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
  • Craig Wells, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
  • Ronald Hambleton, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
10-23-2008
Abstract

It is important to check the fundamental assumption of most popular Item Response Theory models, unidimensionality. However, it is hard for educational and psychological tests to be strictly unidimensional. The tests studied in this paper are from a standardized high-stake testing program. They feature potential multidimensionality by presenting various item types and item sets. Confirmatory factor analyses with one-factor and bifactor models, and based on both linear structural equation modeling approach and nonlinear IRT approach were conducted. The competing models were compared and the implications of the bifactor model for checking essential unidimensionality were discussed.

Citation Information
Nina Deng, Craig Wells and Ronald Hambleton. "A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study Examining the Dimensionality of Educational Achievement Tests" (2008)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ronald_hambleton/1/