Was there One Distractor too Many?

Howard Wainer, J. R. Jefferson Wadkins and Alfred Rogers

Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 1984, vol. 9, issue 1, 5-24

Abstract: A mathematics item on the SAT—the Rolling Circle Problem—was found to be faulty. This paper reports a detailed investigation into its mathematical and psychometric properties. In addition to examining performance of the item with more than 100,000 examinees, two small studies were performed with the aid of a physical model of the problem. It was found that the problem could be considered ambiguous due to the nonspecification of the frame of reference, but that almost no one noticed this lack.

Keywords: Rolling circles; faulty items; empirical item characteristic curves; geometry; topology; SAT; item analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1984
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jedbes:v:9:y:1984:i:1:p:5-24

DOI: 10.3102/10769986009001005

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