BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to test the internal validity of the total Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale using Rasch analysis in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) population. METHODS CES-D was administered to 157 patients with RA over three time points within a 12 month period. Rasch analysis was applied using RUMM2020 software to assess the overall fit of the model...

Alderson (2005) suggests that diagnostic tests should identify strengths and weaknesses in learners' use of language, focus on specific elements rather than global abilities and provide detailed feedback to stakeholders. However, rating scales used in performance assessment have been repeatedly criticized for being imprecise, for using impressionistic terminology (Fulcher, 2003; Upshur & Turner...

Raters play a central role in rater-mediated assessment, and rater variability manifested in various forms including rater errors contributes to construct-irrelevant variance which can adversely affect an examinee’s test score. Halo effect as a subcomponent of rater errors is one of the most pervasive errors which, if not detected, can result in obscuring an examinee’s score and threatening val...

Psychometric theory requires unidimensionality (i.e., scale items should represent a common latent variable). One advocated approach to test unidimensionality within the Rasch model is to identify two item sets from a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of residuals, estimate separate person measures based on the two item sets, compare the two estimates on a person-by-person basis using t-tests ...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the measurement properties and hierarchical item structure of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Data were taken from a cross-sectional study regarding fatigue and sleep-related aspects of PD. One hundred and eighteen consecutive patients with neurologist-diagnosed PD without significant co-morbidities (54% men; mea...

For those with true near-death experiences (NDEs), Greyson's (1983, 1990) NDE Scale satisfactorily fits the Rasch rating scale model, thus yielding a unidimensional measure with interval-level scaling properties. With increasing intensity, NDEs reflect peace, joy and harmony, followed by insight and mystical or religious experiences, while the most intense NDEs involve an awareness of things oc...

This study aimed to investigate construct validity and factor structure of the Persian Occupational Self-Assessment (OSA; Baron, Kielhofner, Iyenger, Goldhammer, & Wolenski, 2003 ) based on the model of human occupation (MOHO). Three hundred and thirty-six (179 male and 157 female) Iranian junior high students were measured using the OSA. The data were analyzed using a Confirmatory Factor Analy...

This study's purpose is to analyze the psychometric properties of Indonesian version Warwick-Edinburgh Mental WellBeing Scale (WEMWBS) using Rasch model measurement analysis test its reliability measurements, item fit statistics, rating scale functions, and differential functioning. A total 855 samples completed 14-items in WEMWBS. The indicates that data model, item-person above 0.8, separatio...

In the five years, 1993 to 1998, total Commonwealth Government spending on education fell from 4.9 to 4.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. Australian universities have responded to this changed funding environment though the increased use of casual teaching staff. The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a short, cost-effective training package designed to improve the rat...