Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)
In this week's readings from your Psychological Testing and Assessment text, you read about misconceptions regarding test bias and test fairness—two terms that are often incorrectly considered synonymous. While questions regarding test bias have been addressed through technical means, issues with test fairness are tied to values. The text attempts to define test fairness in a psychometric context and provides eight techniques for preventing or remedying adverse impacts on one or another group. One of these techniques included differential cutoffs. Furthermore, you were introduced to a variety of methods for setting cut scores. These methods have been based on either CTT or IRT.
For this discussion, synthesize the information you learned about these two theories and their respective methods. In your post, be sure to follow the guidelines below:
Determine which one is preferential for responding to questions about a test's fairness.
Identify at least two advantages and two disadvantages in using each theory.
Defend your preference in terms of the methods used within each theory and how they apply to concepts of fairness across groups. Essentially, how does it best address test fairness?
Describe how advances in technology are improving the process of test development and inclusion of appropriate items.
You can just Google this info, if you need access to my library let me know but I couldn’t find in the library
Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)
Name
Institution
Course
Date
Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT)
The two theories of test setting used to address questions of test fairness are Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). CTT is an approach to psychological testing that uses classical statistics, such as means and standard deviations, to measure test performance. It is often used to measure a person's knowledge of a specific subject area. On the other hand, IRT is a modern approach to testing that focuses on using item response models, such as item response curves, on measuring a person's performance on a test. It is often used to measure a person's overall ability in a specific field.
IRT is the preferred approach for answering questions about a test's fairness. The reason is that IRT considers the item's difficulty and the individual's ability level when measuring performance. This scenario allows for a more precise measure of a person's abilities, which leads to more accurate results and a better understanding of the individual's performance (Eaton et al., 2019). On the other hand, CTT does not consider the item's difficulty or the individual's ability level, producing more general results.
Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, both have their unique pros and cons. CTT has the advantage of being relatively simple to understand and apply, which makes it easier for test developers to create tests that are fair for all test takers (Nolte, 2019). CTT is also relatively cost-effective, as it does not require the use of complex statistical models. However, CTT needs to consider the item's difficulty or the individual's ability level, which can lead to inaccurate results.
On the other hand, IRT has the advantage of taking into account the difficulty of the item and the individual's ability level, which leads to more accurate results. Additionally, IRT is more cost-effective than CTT, as it requires complex statistical models (Eaton et al., 2019). H...