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On the Reliability of Testlet‐Based Tests
Author(s) -
Sireci Stephen G.,
Thissen David,
Wainer Howard
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of educational measurement
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.917
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-3984
pISSN - 0022-0655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3984.1991.tb00356.x
Subject(s) - reliability (semiconductor) , statistics , test (biology) , reading comprehension , econometrics , reliability engineering , psychology , computer science , reading (process) , mathematics , engineering , geology , paleontology , power (physics) , physics , political science , law , quantum mechanics
If a test is constructed of testlets, one must take into account the within‐testlet structure in the calculation of test statistics. Failing to do so may yield serious biases in the estimation of such statistics as reliability. We demonstrate how to calculate the reliability of a testlet‐based test. We show that traditional reliabilities calculated on two reading comprehension tests constructed of four testlets are substantial overestimates.