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Bayesian Estimation of Item Response Curves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Robert K. Tsutakawa  and
Hsin Ying Lin
Robert K. Tsutakawa*
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-Columbia
Hsin Ying Lin
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-Columbia
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to Robert K. Tsutakawa, Department of Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211.
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Abstract

Item response curves for a set of binary responses are studied from a Bayesian viewpoint of estimating the item parameters. For the two-parameter logistic model with normally distributed ability, restricted bivariate beta priors are used to illustrate the computation of the posterior mode via the EM algorithm. The procedure is illustrated by data from a mathematics test.

Keywords

item responsesBayesian estimationEM algorithm
Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , June 1986 , pp. 251 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

This work was supported under Contract No. N00014-85-K-0113, NR 150-535, from Personnel and Training Research Programs, Psychological Sciences Division, Office of Naval Research. The authors wish to thank Mark D. Reckase for providing the ACT data used in the illustration and Michael J. Soltys for computational assistance. They also wish to thank the editor and four anonymous reviewers for many valuable suggestions.

References

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