Problems related to the use of conventional and item response theory equating methods in less than optimal circumstances

This paper focuses on a discussion of how various equating methods are affected by (1) sampling error, (2) sample characteristics, and (3) characteristics of anchor test items. Studies that examine the effect of analytic techniques for smoothing or modeling mar-ginal and bivariate frequency distributions on the ac-curacy of equipercentile equating are reviewed. A need for simulation and empirical studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of analytic smoothing tech-niques for recovering the underlying distribution when sample size, test length, and distributional shape are varied is identified. Studies that examine the question of whether an equating transformation remains the same regardless of the group used to define it are also reviewed. The results of some studies suggested tha