Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery: Item and Factor Analyses of Forms 8, 9, and 10.
Abstract
This study presents an investigation of the characteristics of the items and factors which make up Forms 8, 9, and 10 of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Data on the ASVAB forms were collected from a large sample of applicants for military enlistment at 20 geographically dispersed Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Stations (AFEES). Item and factor analyses were conducted on samples equated in ability through an external reference test, the Armed Forces Qualification Test-7a (AFQT-7a). The true score theory item analyses show the subtests to have relatively easy items im most cases. Item-test biserial correlations are quite high (about .60), indicating subtest internal consistency. In keeping with these indexes, the subtest means are high, and distributions of raw scores are skewed toward the easy range. Subtest scores have high reliability as befits homogeneous groups of items. Item response theory analyses show much the same information with easy items. Test information curves are generally unimodal and skewed toward lower ability subjects. Average item information is quite good. The factor analyses show the six forms to be quite similar to each other and to previous ASVAB forms. Solutions with the four factors labeled Verbal, Mathematical, Vocational Information, and Clerical Speed showed a median intercorrelation of .51 with a limited range. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA113465
Entities
People
- Cecil J. Mullins
- John J. Mathews
- Malcolm James Ree
- Randy H. Massey
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory