Attitudinal Analysis: The Difference Between Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Prof. in Measurement & Assessment, Allame Tabataba'i Uni., Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Prof. in Measurement & Assessment , Allame Tabataba'i Uni., Tehran, Iran

3 Measurement & Assessment

4 Educational Research

Abstract
Measuring attitude does not end with data analysis but is the beginning of a way through which can increase the quality of attitudinal analysis and provide an opportunity to reduce measurement error. In this study, the difference between the classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) in determining the psychometric properties of the data obtained from polling is studied. Before presenting the results of the analysis of these two theories, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were also used to evaluate constructing, validity and reliability of the tools. The subject of the study was actual data on the opinion polls of 3684 people from different groups about television programs. The findings show that both classical test theory and item response theory can provide similar information about the scale items of the latent feature under study. But the two measurement theories give different images of the accuracy of the scales. In general, item response theory offers both more information about measurement accuracy and clearer suggestions for scale improvement.

Keywords

Subjects

Allen, M. J. & Yen, W. M. (2017). Introduction to Measurement Theory (Delavar, A. Trans.). Tehran: SAMT Pub. (Original Work Published 1979).
Heydarali, H. (2006). Analysis of Multivariate Data in Behavioral Research. Tehran: Peyk-E Farhang Pub.
Lord, F. M. (20012). Applications of Item Response Theory to Practical Testing Problems (Delavar, A. & Unesi, J. Trans.). Tehran: Roshd Pub. (original Work Published 1980).

  • Receive Date 19 April 2018
  • Revise Date 23 June 2018
  • Accept Date 24 July 2018