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Rejoinder to McNeish and Mislevy: What Does Psychological Measurement Require?

Author

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  • Klaas Sijtsma

    (Tilburg University)

  • Jules L. Ellis

    (Open University of The Netherlands)

  • Denny Borsboom

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

In this rejoinder to McNeish (2024) and Mislevy (2024), who both responded to our focus article on the merits of the simple sum score (Sijtsma et al., 2024), we address several issues. Psychometrics education and in particular psychometricians’ outreach may help researchers to use IRT models as a precursor for the responsible use of the latent variable score and the sum score. Different methods used for test and questionnaire construction often do not produce highly different results, and when they do, this may be due to an unarticulated attribute theory generating noisy data. The sum score and transformations thereof, such as normalized test scores and percentiles, may help test practitioners and their clients to better communicate results. Latent variables prove important in more advanced applications such as equating and adaptive testing where they serve as technical tools rather than communication devices. Decisions based on test results are often binary or use a rather coarse ordering of scale levels, hence, do not require a high level of granularity (but nevertheless need to be precise). A gap exists between psychology and psychometrics which is growing deeper and wider, and that needs to be bridged. Psychology and psychometrics must work together to attain this goal.

Suggested Citation

  • Klaas Sijtsma & Jules L. Ellis & Denny Borsboom, 2024. "Rejoinder to McNeish and Mislevy: What Does Psychological Measurement Require?," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1175-1185, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:psycho:v:89:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11336-024-10004-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11336-024-10004-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    2. Daniel McNeish, 2024. "Practical Implications of Sum Scores Being Psychometrics’ Greatest Accomplishment," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1148-1169, December.
    3. Klaas Sijtsma, 2012. "Future of Psychometrics: Ask What Psychometrics Can Do for Psychology," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 77(1), pages 4-20, January.
    4. Robert J. Mislevy, 2024. "Are Sum Scores a Great Accomplishment of Psychometrics or Intuitive Test Theory?," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1170-1174, December.
    5. Brian Junker, 1991. "Essential independence and likelihood-based ability estimation for polytomous items," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 255-278, June.
    6. Klaas Sijtsma, 2009. "On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 107-120, March.
    7. Yoshio Takane & Jan Leeuw, 1987. "On the relationship between item response theory and factor analysis of discretized variables," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 393-408, September.
    8. Denny Borsboom, 2006. "The attack of the psychometricians," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 71(3), pages 425-440, September.
    9. Klaas Sijtsma & Jules L. Ellis & Denny Borsboom, 2024. "Recognize the Value of the Sum Score, Psychometrics’ Greatest Accomplishment," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 89(1), pages 84-117, March.
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