Course Overview

This course is a course on modern measurement theories, which means that it will focus on statistical models for the analysis of data from psychometric scales and the theoretical foundations of their development and application. Psychometric scales are intended to measure unobservable (i.e., latent) traits of respondents and, thus, the statistical models that this course focuses on are models that include statistically constructed (i.e., latent) variables. The main emphasis on the course is on item response theory (IRT), but we will commence our work with a look at classical test theory (CTT) and finish it with a brief look at exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA, respectively) as they pertain to the analysis of psychometric data. We will focus on the statistical theory underlying the statistical models as well on their application to real and simulated data sets using modern software programs, whenever possible. Throughout the course, we will look at illustrative examples from a variety of disciplines with an emphasis on education and psychology. In the work that you will do for this course, you will often be asked to explain your reasoning or to think through a problem that does not have a single fixed solution. The main emphasis of this course is, thus, not merely to provide you with a toolbox for solving challenging psychometric questions, but to encourage you to become a reflective, principled, and thoughtful user of these tools. It is my firm belief that this will enable you to collaborate more effectively with colleagues, especially when working in interdisciplinary teams