Psychometric Methods ─ Theory into Practice

Grounded in current knowledge and professional practice, this book provides up-to-date coverage of psychometric theory, methods, and interpretation of results. Essential topics include measurement and statistical concepts, scaling models, test design and development, reliability, validity, factor analysis, item response theory, and generalizability theory. Also addressed are norming and test equating, topics not typically covered in traditional psychometrics texts. Examples drawn from a dataset on intelligence testing are used throughout the book, elucidating the assumptions underlying particular methods and providing SPSS (or alternative) syntax for conducting analyses. The companion website presents datasets for all examples as well as PowerPoints of figures and key concepts. Pedagogical features include equation boxes with English translations of all statistical notation and end-of-chapter glossaries. The Appendix offers extensions of the topical chapters with example source code from SAS, SPSS, IRTPRO, BILOG-MG, PARSCALE, TESTFACT, and DIMTEST.

Larry R. Price, PhD, is Professor of Psychometrics and Statistics at Texas State University, where he is also Director of the Initiative for Interdisciplinary Research Design and Analysis. This university-wide role involves conceptualizing and writing the analytic segments of large-scale competitive grant proposals in collaboration with interdisciplinary research teams. Previously, he served as a psychometrician and statistician at the Emory University School of Medicine (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) and at the Psychological Corporation (now part of Pearson's Clinical Assessment Group). Dr. Price is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division 5 (Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics), and an Accredited Professional Statistician of the American Statistical Association.