Item analysis: A

Technique to check
suitability of Items for
test
Dr. Girish Kumar
Tiwari
The title comprises of eight
key terms:
2


Test
Approach to
 Construction
Test
 Test
Construction
Construction
Item
 Approach
Analytic
Item Analytic
Test 3

-
There are several definitions :
Test is defined as a series of
questions on the basis of which
information is sought.
 4

According to Meriamm- Webster

Dictionary, A test or examination
(informally, exam or evaluation) is
an assessment intended to measure a
test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude
, physical fitness, or classification in
many other topics (e.g., beliefs).
 5

A psychological test is an objective

and standardized measure of sample
of behavior.
As per the words of Smith, Greggory
(2003) A psychological test is an
instrument designed to measure
unobserved constructs, also known
 6

According to Mellenbergh, G.J.

(2008) A psychological test is a
standardized measure
quantitatively or qualitatively one
or more than one aspect of trait
by means of a sample of verbal or
 7

Construction -
-Process of creating or developing
something
Test Construction -
-Process of creating or developing a
test in general or a psychological test
in particular
 8
-Test construction is the set of activities
involved in developing and evaluating a test of
some psychological function. The steps
include specifying the construct of interest,
deciding the test’s function (diagnosis,
description of skill level, prediction of
recovery), choosing a method (performance,
behavioral observation, self-report), designing
item content, evaluating the reliability and
validity of the test, and modifying the test to
 9

Steps of test construction

 Planning the test
 Preparing the items
 Selecting the items
 Evaluating the test
Approaches of test construct
ion:
There are three commonly used
approaches of test construction:
 Inductive approach;
 Deductive approach; and
 Empirical approach
Inductive Approach:
The inductive method begins by constructing a wide
variety of items with little or no relation to an established
theory or previous measure. The group of items is then
answered by a large number of participants and analyzed
using various statistical methods, such as
exploratory factor analysis or
principal component analysis. These methods allow
researchers to analyze natural relationships among the
questions and then label components of the scale based
Deductive Approach:
Also known as rational, intuitive, or deductive method.
The deductive method begins by developing a theory
for the construct of interest. This may include the use of
a previously established theory. After this, items are
created that are believed to measure each facet of the
construct of interest. After item creation, initial items
are selected or eliminated based upon which will result
in the strongest internal validity for each scale.
Empirical Approach:
Also known as External or Criterion Group method.
Empirical test construction attempts to create a measure
that differentiates between different established groups.
For example, this may include depressed and non-
depressed individuals, or individuals high or low in levels
of aggression. The goal of item creation is to find items
that will be answered differently by the groups of interest.
Items are traditionally constructed without expectation
for how they will be answered by each group. The
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was
 14

“This method primarily differs from the

inductive method in the way items are
selected. While inductive methods select
items based upon factor loadings,
empirical items are selected based upon
validity coefficients and their ability to
accurately predict group membership.
 15

Here, in this approach the test developer

go through the item analysis to select or
reject items. So, it is also known as item
analytic approach of test construction.
And this is our concern for today.
Item Analysis -
16

Item analysis is the set of

qualitative and quantitative
techniques and procedures used to
evaluate the characteristics of
items. Item analysis allows
selecting or omitting items from
Difficulty Value &
discriminating power-
17

Difficulty level of an item is the

difficulty of a question from
student points of view and
discriminating power is the extent
up to which an item discriminates
among the groups of test takers.
 18

Difficulty Value
• • RL = Number of Right
• Here, D. V. = Responses in Low Scorer
Difficulty Value; Group; and
• RH = Number of • n = Number of
Right Responses in High respondent in high or low
Scorer Group; group = 81
• The highest D.V. of an
item means the item is
easiest
 19

Discriminating Power
• RL = Number of Right
• D.P. = Responses in Low Scorer
Discriminating Power; Group; and
• RH = Number of • n = Number of
Right Responses in High respondent in high or low
Scorer Group; group = 81
•
 20

Other Formula for D.V. and D.P.

•
• Here, D. V. = Difficulty • Here, D.P. =
Value; Discriminating Power;
• PH = RH/n; • PH = RH/n;
• PL = RL/n • PL = RL/n
• n = Number of respondent • n = Number of respondent
in high or low group in high or low group
• The highest D.V. of an
item means The item most
difficult.
 21

Desired Value of D.V and D.P.

 The difficulty value of the items for retaining in the test
should lie between 30% to 80% (Oosterhof,1990).
 The discriminating power for same should range between
0.30 to 0.80 (Oosterhof,1990).
Item No. RL RH D.V. D.P. Decision

1 32 71 36.41975 0.481481 *S 22
2 17 44 62.34568 0.333333 *S

3 14 60 54.32099 0.567901 *S

4 12 62 54.32099 0.617284 *S

5 10 35 72.22222 0.308642 *S

6 17 47 60.49383 0.37037 *S

7 5 30 78.39506 0.308642 *S

8 10 59 57.40741 0.604938 *S

9 14 58 55.55556 0.54321 *S

10 13 38 68.51852 0.308642 *S

11 8 33 74.69136 0.308642 *S

12 8 33 74.69136 0.308642 *S

13 12 46 64.19753 0.419753 *S

14 5 30 78.39506 0.308642 *S

15 6 12 88.88889 0.074074 **R

16 5 31 77.77778 0.320988 *S

17 17 40 64.81481 0.283951 **R

18 12 25 77.16049 0.160494 **R

19 4 29 79.62963 0.308642 *S

20 17 45 61.7284 0.345679 *S

21 9 34 73.45679 0.308642 *S

22 24 30 66.66667 0.074074 **R

23 15 28 73.45679 0.160494 **R

24 9 35 72.83951 0.320988 *S

25 11 36 70.98765 0.308642 *S

26 12 19 80.8642 0.08642 **R

27 7 32 75.92593 0.308642 *S

28 14 36 69.1358 0.271605 **R

29 11 36 70.98765 0.308642 *S
 23

Item analysis of Likert Type Scale

• After scoring, the researcher went through the process of
item analysis. The literature on behavioural statistics
suggested about several methods of item analysis. Some
were highly restricted in its applicability, while others can be
used almost universally.
 24

In any Likert Type Scale only discriminating power is

calculated for item analysis. ‘t’-test’ will be used for
computing the discriminating power.
Process of Computing Discriminating 25

Power
• Arranged the data into ascending order. The base of
arrangement is the total score obtained by a respondent on
the above said tool.
• Calculate the 27 % of the total sample size that is
(150x27)/100 =
• 40.5 = 41 in the case of given example.
• Divide the whole respondents into three groups which are
low
scorer, high scorer and average.
 26

• Take only low scorer group and high scorer group

• Thus, a test developer get two set of scores for each item
• Calculate the Mean and S.D. for the each item of each
group on the basis of the score of low scorer group and
high scorer group.
• Calculate t-value for each item.
• Check the significance of computed ‘t-value’ at desired
level of significance for desired degree of freedom.
• Take decision to keep the item in test or to withdraw the
item from test.
I. NO. Mean SD t-value Signif- Selection/ 27
High group Low group High group Low group
icance Rejection

01 3.63 2.80 0.94 0.87 4.13 S Selected

02 3.19 2.85 1.64 0.88 1.17 NS Rejected

03 5.00 4.19 0 0.40 12.84 S Selected

04 3.07 2.26 1.58 0.44 3.12 S Selected

05 5.00 2.97 0 1.23 10.49 S Selected

06 3.60 2.12 1.65 0.33 5.63 S Selected

07 4.63 3.48 0.48 0.80 7.76 S Selected

08 4.75 3.80 0.48 0.60 7.86 S Selected

09 4.24 3.12 1.13 0.55 5.68 S Selected

10 2.51 2.09 1.38 0.83 1.64 NS Rejected
11 4.26 2.87 1.11 1.18 5.45 S Selected
12 4.80 4.09 0.40 0.58 6.39 S Selected

13 4.87 3.90 0.33 0.73 7.74 S Selected

14 4.80 4.26 0.40 0.89 3.50 S Selected

15 4.97 3.68 0.15 1.08 7.56 S Selected

16 4.36 4.46 1.13 0.50 0.50 NS Rejected

17 3.29 3.80 1.14 0.60 2.53 NS Rejected

18 5.00 3.90 0 1.24 5.66 S Selected

19 3.92 3.21 1.31 1.57 2.21 NS Rejected

20 4.26 2.92 0.80 0.56 8.71 S Selected

21 4.51 3.31 0.50 1.05 6.51 S Selected

22 3.70 3.58 1.12 0.66 0.59 NS Rejected

23 4.82 3.46 0.38 0.95 8.53 S Selected

24 4.58 2.51 0.49 0.80 13.95 S Selected

25 4.75 3.02 0.48 0.65 13.61 S Selected

26 4.65 4.02 0.48 0.75 4.52 S Selected

27 2.41 3.09 1.18 0.86 2.98 S Selected

28 4.70 3.29 0.46 0.67 11.03 S Selected

29 4.78 4.09 0.41 0.30 8.48 S Selected

30 4.87 3.82 0.33 0.58 9.95 S Selected

31 4.70 4.78 0.46 0.41 0.75 NS Rejected

32 4.87 4.04 0.33 0.77 6.31 S Selected
 Thank 28

you
Dr. Girish Kumar Tiwari
Project Fellow – I
Inter University Centre for Teacher
Education, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi
Mob. – 7318248269
Email: - girishtiwari8@gmail.com