Psychometrics, Test Theory, and the Latent Factors Model

With a unique blend of psychometric theory and methodology and contemporary analysis methods, this book helps readers to understand how the analyses fit into the broader scheme of measurement.  The book also emphasizes the practicality of software integration, specifically Stata, Mplus, and R, so that readers can successfully conduct and produce psychometrically-sound research.  The book presents over 125 individual models, each of which addresses a major aspect of measurement theory, practice, concepts, and philosophy.  In addition, the authors provide important cautions and warnings about misuse and misinterpretations of common, but limited, analytic techniques along with hints, tips, and practical guidance about best practices and efficient strategies for modeling and model selection.  The presentation is historically informed, philosophically grounded, mathematically justified, and methodologically current.  Each chapter concludes with conceptual questions about the meaning of each method or psychometric concept; computational questions that test reader ability to carry out the procedures on simple data sets; and data analysis questions for the application of statistical software to actual research data.  The book is supplemented with a companion website that includes the related Stata, Mplus, and R code as well as an Instructor's website that contains solutions to the end-of-chapter exercises.  Topical coverage includes: scores and distributions; measurement and validity; foundations of classical test theory; latent variables, latent traits, item response theory, and factor analysis; scores and latent modeling; measure generalizability; constructs and theories; exploratory analysis compared to confirmatory analysis; estimating and testing statistical models; and the expansion of psychometrics to include the future science of neurometrics.

Petr Blahus, PhD, was Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematical Methods at Charles University in the Czech Republic.

Joseph A. Olsen, PhD, is Associate Research Professor, Assistant Dean, and Director of Information Technology and Research Support in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University. He is a Member of the American Statistical Association and Psychometric Society.

Scott R. Braithwaite, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department Psychology at Brigham Young University. A licensed psychologist, he received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University in 2010.

Jessica Scott, PhD, is Assessment Consultant at DecisionWise. She is also past Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Brigham Young University and Statistical Research Consultant at Multiling.

Bruce L. Brown, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Brigham Young University. He is a Member of the American Statistical Association and American Psychological Association.