Using SAS for Classical Item Analysis and Option Analysis

In spite of the growing popularity of the item response theory (IRT), classical item analysis (CIA) is still frequently employed by psychometricians and teachers for its conceptual and computational simplicity. This article will introduce how SAS can be applied to CIA such as computing p-values, discriminations, point biserial correlations, and logits. In addition, option analysis, which is helpful to both IRT and classical analysis, will be discussed. The purpose of option analysis is to examine clarity and plausibility of distracters in multiple-choice items.