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Livingston  \nJune 2020  \nETS Research Memorandum Series  \nINTERIM EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR  \nJohn Mazzeo Distinguished Presidential Appointee  \nASSOCIATE EDITORS  \nBeata Beigman Klebanov Senior Research Scientist  \nHeather Buzick  \nSenior Research Scientist  \nTim Davey  \nResearch Director  \nJohn Davis  \nResearch Scientist  \nKeelan Evanini Research Director  \nMarna Golub-Smith  \nPrincipal Psychometrician Irv Katz  \nSenior Research Director  \nSooyeon Kim  \nPrincipal Psychometrician Anastassia Loukina Senior Research Scientist  \nGautam Puhan  \nPrincipal Psychometrician  \nJonathan Schmidgall Research Scientist  \nJesse Sparks  \nResearch Scientist  \nMichael Walker  \nDistinguished Presidential Appointee Rebecca Zwick  \nDistinguished Presidential Appointee  \nPRODUCTION EDITORS  \nKim Fryer  \nManager, Editing Services  \nAyleen Gontz Senior Editor  \nSince its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Memorandum series, undergo a formal peer-review process by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Memorandum series and other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and Trustees of Educational Testing Service.  \nThe Daniel Eignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS.  \nBasic Concepts of Item Response Theory: ANonmathematical Introduction  \nSamuel A. Livingston  \nEducational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey  \nJune 2020  \nCorresponding author: S. A. Livingston, E-mail: [slivingston@ets.org](slivingston@ets.org)  \nSuggested citation: Livingston, S. A. (2020). Basic concepts of item response theory: A nonmathematical introduction (Research Memorandum No. RM-20-06). Educational Testing Service.  \nFind other ETS-published reports by searching the ETS ReSEARCHER database at [http://search.ets.org/researcher/](http://search.ets.org/researcher/)  \nTo obtain a copy of an ETS research report, please visit [http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html](http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html)  \nAction Editor: John Mazzeo  \nReviewer: Tim Davey  \nCopyright © 2020 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved.  \nETS and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of  \nEducational Testing Service (ETS). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  \nAbstract  \nThis booklet is a conceptual introduction to item response theory (IRT), which many large-scale testing programs use for constructing and scoring their tests. Although IRT is essentially mathematical, the approach here is nonmathematical, in order to serve as an introduction on the topic for people who want to understand why IRT is used and what it does but are uncomfortable with the mathematics. The focus is on the basic types of IRT that are commonly used today.  \nKeywords: item response theory (IRT), models, calibration, number-correct scoring, pattern scoring, ability estimates, score scales  \nWhy This Booklet?  \nIn the world of educational testing, an item is a question, problem, or task presented to a test taker as part of th","cbCaieqea1jYDwop","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieqea1jYDwop","pdf",786730,22,"English","# Why This Booklet?\n## What Is IRT Good for?\n### Uses in constructing and scoring tests\n### Selecting and pretesting items\n### Producing scaled scores","[{\"question\":\"What is the main goal of this booklet on IRT?\",\"answer\":\"It provides a conceptual introduction to the basic concepts of item response theory without using mathematics, formulas, or equations.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is the booklet intended for?\",\"answer\":\"It targets readers who want to understand why IRT is used and what it does but are uncomfortable with the mathematical presentation.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of IRT are covered?\",\"answer\":\"The booklet focuses on the basic types of IRT that are commonly used today, emphasizing practical usage rather than advanced variants.\"}]","Basic Concepts of Item Response Theory - A Nonmathematical Introduction | PDF",1792048053,55]