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Test equating is a statistical procedure to ensure that scores from different test forms can be used interchangeably. There are several methodologies available to perform equating, some of which are based on the Classical Test Theory (CTT) framework and others are based on the Item Response Theory (IRT) framework. This article compares equating transformations originated from three different frameworks, namely IRT Observed-Score Equating (IRTOSE), Kernel Equating (KE), and IRT Kernel Equating (IRTKE). The comparisons were made under different data-generating scenarios, which include the development of a novel data-generation procedure that allows the simulation of test data without relying on IRT parameters while still providing control over some test score properties such as distribution skewness and item difficulty. Our results suggest that IRT methods tend to provide better results than KE even when the data are not generated from IRT processes. KE might be able to provide satisfactory results if a proper pre-smoothing solution can be found, while also being much faster than IRT methods. For daily applications, we recommend observing the sensibility of the results to the equating method, minding the importance of good model fit and meeting the assumptions of the framework.

This article is based on a paper given on August 16 at the seminar “Losing my Religion” held in connection with the 14th International Congress for Luther Research: Word and World. It offers a heuristic analysis of different attacks on the reformer Martin Luther and Lutheran theology, both internally and externally, with a focus on the generalizing critique of what is at times labeled “the traditional (Protestant) confrontation perspective” by the so-called new—or even radical—Paul New Testament scholars. It is demonstrated that the Paul readings, foremost Paul's letter to the Romans, by the new Paul perspective scholars can be aligned with the Paul readings made by radical feminist New Testament scholars, as both groups read the bible as history from an essentialist angle. By contrast, the attacked “traditional (Protestant) perspective” can be aligned with revisionist feminist New Testament scholars, as these latter groups read the bible as theology from a constructivist angle.

The overall aim of this study was to examine the different self-reported students’ socioeconomic status (SES) measures in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in comparison to national SES measures obtained from Swedish official registers. A further aim was to determine if the same conclusions could be drawn if different student measures were used to define SES when modelling the students’ TIMSS mathematics achievement. The overall results showed that the choice of SES measures matters. The home educational resource index and books at home from the TIMSS data base were good indicators of SES. We conclude that when one has access to SES information from official registers it is recommended to use it because these measures have less missing information compared with the TIMSS variables.

Kernel equating uses kernel smoothing techniques to continuize the discrete score distributions when equating test scores from an assessment test. The degree of smoothness of the continuous approximations is determined by the bandwidth. Four bandwidth selection methods are currently available for kernel equating, but no thorough comparison has been made between these methods. The overall aim is to compare these four methods together with two additional methods based on cross-validation in a simulation study. Both equivalent and non-equivalent group designs are used and the number of test takers, test length, and score distributions are all varied. The results show that sample size and test length are important factors for equating accuracy and precision. However, all bandwidth selection methods perform similarly with regards to the mean squared error and the differences in terms of equated scores are small, suggesting that the choice of bandwidth is not critical. The different bandwidth selection methods are also illustrated using real testing data from a college admissions test. Practical implications of the results from the simulation study and the empirical study are discussed. Originally included in thesis in manuscript form.

Background: Because of all the serious consequences of major depressive disorder (MDD), it is important to screen for MDD in adolescents. The aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed self-report depression scale MADRS-Y for adolescents in a normative Swedish sample. Methods: The study included 620 adolescents in the age range of 12–20 years old. The normative sample was randomly split into two equal parts, to perform principal component analysis (PCA) on sample one and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on sample two. We investigated the psychometrics. Results: The result from the PCA suggested that all 12 potential items should be used, and the items loaded on the same construct of depression. The CFA supported the one-factor structure with good fit indices. Measurement invariance was confirmed, allowing interpretation regardless of gender or age differences. Reliability was good, α.89, for both samples separately. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients =.87 and.91). Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was shown. Conclusions: The results in the current study suggest that the MADRS-Y is a brief, reliable, and valid self-report questionnaire of depressive symptoms for adolescents in the general population.

The main aim of the current paper is to propose Item Response Theory (IRT) models derived from the nondecomposable measurement theories presented in Fishburn (1974). More specifically, we aim to: (i) present the theoretical basis of the Rasch model and its relations to psychophysics’ models of utility; (ii) give a brief exposition on the measurement theories presented in Fishburn (1974; 1975), some of which do not require an additive structure; and (iii) derive IRT models from these measurement theories, as well as Bayesian implementations of these models. We also present two empirical examples to compare how well these IRT models fit to real data. Despite our main concern being the derivation of new IRT models that can be used to generate fundamental measures of the respondents’ true scores that not depend on additive structures, theoretical interpretations of the models are also discussed. The manuscript ends with prospects for future studies and practical implications.

This study explores the usefulness of covariates on equating test scores from nonequivalent test groups. The covariates are captured by an estimated propensity score, which is used as a proxy for latent ability to balance the test groups. The objective is to assess the sensitivity of the equated scores to various misspecifications in the propensity score model. The study assumes a parametric form of the propensity score and evaluates the effects of various misspecification scenarios on equating error. The results, based on both simulated and real testing data, show that (1) omitting an important covariate leads to biased estimates of the equated scores, (2) misspecifying a nonlinear relationship between the covariates and test scores increases the equating standard error in the tails of the score distributions, and (3) the equating estimators are robust against omitting a second-order term as well as using an incorrect link function in the propensity score estimation model. The findings demonstrate that auxiliary information is beneficial for test score equating in complex settings. However, it also sheds light on the challenge of making fair comparisons between nonequivalent test groups in the absence of common items. The study identifies scenarios, where equating performance is acceptable and problematic, provides practical guidelines, and identifies areas for further investigation.

Diagnostic scales are essential to the health and social sciences, and to the individuals that provide the data. Although statistical models for scale data have been researched for decades, it remains nearly universal that scale scores are sums of weights assigned a priori to question choice options (sum scores), respectively. We propose several modifications of psychometric testing theory that together demonstrate remarkable improvements in the quality of rating scale scores. Our model represents performance as a space with a metric structure by transforming probability into surprisal or information. The estimation algorithm permits the analysis of data from tens and hundreds of thousands of test takers in a few minutes on consumer level computing equipment. Standard errors of performance estimates are shown to be as small as a quarter of those of sum scores. Open access software resources are presented.

The aim of the current study is to present three assumptions common to psychometric theory and psychometric practice, and to show how alternatives to traditional psychometrical approaches can be used to improve psychological measurement. These alternatives are developed by adapting each of these three assumptions. The assumption of structural validity relates to the implementation of mathematical models. The process assumption which is underlying process generates the observed data. The construct assumption implies that the observed data on its own do not constitute a measurement, but the latent variable that originates the observed data. Nonparametric item response modeling and cognitive psychometric modeling are presented as alternatives for relaxing the first two assumptions, respectively. Network psychometrics is the alternative for relaxing the third assumption. Final remarks sum up the most important conclusions of the study.

I denne artikel gives et portræt af den norske idéhistoriker og feministteolog, Kari E. Børresen (1932-2016), og der indføres i hendes særlige bidrag til kønsforskningen. Artiklens særlige fokus er Børresens kritiske afkodning af traditionel romersk-katolsk teologis påstand om, at patriarkatet kirkeligt og socialt er en essentiel konstans, og at forandring af denne ville stride mod kristen ortodoksi. Det demonstreres, hvordan Børresen påviser, at en patriarkalsk androcentrisme netop ikke er en konstans, men at man tværtimod kan finde "feministiske" tendenser blandt de oldkirkelige fædre.

Paperet giver en kritisk læsning af Richard Cross' udlægning af Luthers brug af figuren "communicatio idiomatum", udvekslingen af guddommelige og menneskelige egenskaber i Kristus forstået som en person med to naturer. Dels gøres der analytisk rede for, at Luther ikke regrederede til skolastikkens abstracta i sin kristologi - men at Luther i sin kristologi derimod gik bagom skolastikken og var stærkt inspireret af Bernhard af Clairvaux. Dels gøres der analytisk rede for, at Luther - også imod skolastikken, især den dominikanske skolastik - arbejdede i et inklusivt sprog for dermed kristologisk at understrege Guds menneskelige side (ikke en mandlig) i et net af relationer. Luthers brug af communicatio idiomatum figuren kan således egentlig oversættes til den moderne term intersektionalitet.

Reduction of graphs is a class of procedures used to decrease the dimensionality of a given graph in which the properties of the reduced graph are to be induced from the properties of the larger original graph. This paper introduces both a new method for reducing chain graphs to simpler directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), that we call power chain graphs (PCG), as well as a procedure for structure learning of this new type of graph from correlational data of a Gaussian graphical model. A definition for PCGs is given, directly followed by the reduction method. The structure learning procedure is a two-step approach: first, the correlation matrix is used to cluster the variables; and then, the averaged correlation matrix is used to discover the DAGs using the PC-stable algorithm. The results of simulations are provided to illustrate the theoretical proposal, which demonstrate initial evidence for the validity of our procedure to recover the structure of power chain graphs. The paper ends with a discussion regarding suggestions for future studies as well as some practical implications.

This study presents the situational optimization function analysis (SOFA) and has three aims. First, to develop a Bayesian implementation of SOFA. Second, to compare this implementation with three other maximum likelihood-based models in their accuracy to estimate true scores. The third aim is to show how joint modeling can be used for validity research. A simulation study was used to examine the second aim, while an empirical example was used to illustrate the third aim. The simulation study used three data generating processes, with varying degrees of deviation from linear models and with different sample sizes. Results of the simulation study showed that the Bayesian implementation supersedes the other models. In the empirical example, data collected from 66 participants using an iterated prisoner dilemma and a scale measuring cooperation-competition attitudes were used. Results showed that joint modeling is the best fitting model, also increasing the correlation between the true scores of both measures (deviations from the iterated prisoner dilemma and the scale). Finally, implications, limitations and future studies are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Dette er en akademisk respons på en akademisk anmeldelse af min bog The Alternative Luther: Lutheran Theology from the Subaltern (Fortress Academic/Rowman and Littlefield 2019). Den amerikanske professor, Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, har skrevet en meget detaljeret anmeldelse af bogen i det internationale tidsskrift, Dialog, hvor hun diskuterer bogens teologiske tilgang. Hun er positiv over for det postkoloniale perspektiv på Luther som "precarious" og "subaltern", samt på luthersk teologi, der herved giver mange flere aktører en stemme og ser klassiske lutherske begreber på en ny og frisk måde. I mit svar lægger jeg vægt på Luthers opgør med det imperiale (kejser Karl V over det tysk-romerske rige, inkl. Spanien) og romersk-koloniale overherredømme (den pave-kirkelige hierarkiske struktur og udnyttelse af almindelige mennesker), som den tysktalende befolkning led under, både økonomisk og samfundsstrukturelt. Dertil kommer det opgør, vi i bogen har med den parallelle anglo-amerikanske kolonisering af store dele af verden, sprogligt og kulturelt.

The aim of this study was to examine the association between students’ TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) science achievement, and students’ school achievements, in terms of national tests and grades from school years 6 and 9. Further to examine the association with TIMSS science achievement and different subgroups of students based on their home background. The study is based on a unique possibility to analyse TIMSS 2015 data together with register data of the Swedish students’ national test results from school years 6 and 9 and their science subject grades from school years 6 and 9. The overall results show that there were moderate associations between TIMSS science achievement and school achievement measures. The association between grades and the high-stakes national tests were stronger than between grades and TIMSS. The students’ home background had a clear impact on the results as students with highly educated mothers, who comes from homes with many books and are nonimmigrants had on average higher TIMSS science achievements.

This article examines Martin Luther's perception of gender and ministry in relation to what may be coined his radical incarnation theology, the Word incarnate in Jesus Christ, in-fleshed in human b...

The aim of this paper is to describe, analyze, and discuss how Swedish schools and the national tests in schools, university teaching and examination, and the college admissions test, Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT), have been affected by the COVID-19 situation. A further aim is to discuss the challenges in schools, universities and in the admissions test process in Sweden which are due to the COVID-19 situation. Contrary to many other countries, Swedish schools remained open, except for upper secondary school and universities where teaching went online. However, the spring administrations of the national tests and the high-stake college admission test, SweSAT, were cancelled, which had impact on admissions to universities in the fall. By using documentation from the news, school, and university authorities, as well as governmental reports of the events and a student survey, challenges are discussed. The novelty of this study includes a discussion of the events and their upcoming challenges. A discussion of what could be learned and what to expect in the close future is included, as well as conclusions which can be drawn from this situation.