Glossary of Terms for Item Statistics

Identifier Caption Description
D-Parm IRT d parameter A measure of the dispersion of the item computed using IRT method.
Score_Conversion Score Conversion Table Raw scores and their corresponding converted values (e.g. the values to be used in score reports).
Fifths_Table_Lowest Fifths_Table_Lowest Count of examinees in the lowest fifth of the test score distribution who selected the specified option.
Fifths_Table_Second_Lowest Fifths_Table_Second_Lowest Count of examinees in the second lowest fifth of the test score distribution who selected the specified option.
Fifths_Table_Middle Fifths_Table_Middle Count of examinees in the middle fifth of the test score distribution who selected the specified option.
Fifths_Table_Second_Highest Fifths_Table_Second_Highest Count of examinees in the second highest fifth of the test score distribution who selected the specified option.
Fifths_Table_Highest Fifths_Table_Highest Count of examinees in the highest fifth of the test score distribution who selected the specified option.
AIS Average Item Score A group-dependent measure of item difficulty. Equal to the mean of the item scores for a group of individuals. For a rights-only dichotomously scored test, equivalent to the percent answering the item correctly (P-value).
A-Parm IRT a parameter Index of item discrimination based on item response theory.
B-Parm IRT b parameter Index of item difficulty based on item response theory.
C-Parm IRT c parameter The lower asymptote of the item response function. Generally an index of guessing, i.e., the probability of getting the item correct for very low ability examinees.
P-value P-value A group-dependent measure of item difficulty. It is equal to the percent answering the item correctly.
PHI Phi-coefficient A group-dependent measure of item discrimination, Phi is the correlation of two dichotomous variables. In item analysis, it is generally the correlation between getting an item right or wrong and some dichotomous variable, e.g., pass, fail.
rbis r-biserial A group-dependent measure of item discrimination, r-biserial is an estimate of the biserial correlation between a latent continuous variable hypothesized to underlie performance on a dichotomous item (i.e. item score) and a criterion which is a variable than can take many possible values, such as total score on the test.
PTbis r-pointbiserial A group-dependent measure of item discrimination, r-pointbiserial is the point biserial correlation between the score on a dichotomous item and a criterion which is a variable than can take many possible values, such as total score on the test.
Polyserial Polyserial The polyserial correlation is the generalization of the biserial correlation for use with either dichotomous or polytomous items. For example, it may be the generalized form of the correlation with a criterion. It is the correlation of the item score with some continuous variable, usually the total score on the test.