TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating invariant item ordering in the Mental Health Inventory : an illustration of the use of different methods
AU - Watson, Roger
AU - Wang, Wenru
AU - Thompson, David R.
AU - Meijer, Rob R.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Invariant item ordering is a property of scales whereby the items are scored in the same order across a wide range of the latent trait and across a wide range of respondents. In the package ‘mokken’ in the statistical software R, the ability to analyse Mokken scales for invariant item ordering has recently been available and techniques for inspecting visually the item response curves of item pairs, have also been included. While methods to assess invariant item ordering are available, there have been indications that items representing extremes of distress in mental well-being scales, such as suicidal ideation, may lead to claiming invariant item ordering where it does not exist. We used the Mental Health Inventory to see if invariant item ordering was indicated in any Mokken scales derived and to see if this was being influenced by extreme items. A Mokken scale was derived indicating invariant item ordering. Visual inspection of the item pairs indicated that the most difficult item (suicidal ideation) was located far from the remaining cluster of items. Removing this item lowered invariant item ordering to an unacceptable level.
AB - Invariant item ordering is a property of scales whereby the items are scored in the same order across a wide range of the latent trait and across a wide range of respondents. In the package ‘mokken’ in the statistical software R, the ability to analyse Mokken scales for invariant item ordering has recently been available and techniques for inspecting visually the item response curves of item pairs, have also been included. While methods to assess invariant item ordering are available, there have been indications that items representing extremes of distress in mental well-being scales, such as suicidal ideation, may lead to claiming invariant item ordering where it does not exist. We used the Mental Health Inventory to see if invariant item ordering was indicated in any Mokken scales derived and to see if this was being influenced by extreme items. A Mokken scale was derived indicating invariant item ordering. Visual inspection of the item pairs indicated that the most difficult item (suicidal ideation) was located far from the remaining cluster of items. Removing this item lowered invariant item ordering to an unacceptable level.
KW - Mokken scaling
KW - coronary heart disease
KW - item response theory
KW - mental health
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:28973
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2014.03.017
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2014.03.017
M3 - Article
SN - 0191-8869
VL - 66
SP - 74
EP - 78
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
ER -