Improving the Validity of a Criterion-Referenced, Diagnostic Test Using a Discriminant Function Procedure.

Abstract

The development of a criterion-referenced, diagnostic test for boiler technicians (BTs) was a necessary part of the Personnel Readiness Training Program, a diagnostic testing/shipboard training program. In the absence of a well-defined methodology for the optimal weighting of individual item scores on criterion-referenced tests, a systematic and practical procedure leading to the improvement of the predictive validity of scores on this diagnostic test was needed. The purpose of this effort was to determine whether an application of discriminant function analysis could significantly improve the overall predictive validity on the scores on a diagnostic criterion-referenced test. In this statistical procedure, the examinee's score is based on the sum of the individual item discriminant weights as opposed to one for a correct response and zero for an incorrect one. The test employed in this research was the criterion-referenced, Basic Mechanical Procedures (BMP) test, which was developed by NAVPERSRANDCEN to diagnose individual deficiencies within the BT rating.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA116427

Entities

People

  • Ronald M. Bearden

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Applied Psychology
  • Chi Square Test
  • Classification
  • Coefficients
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Science
  • Discriminant Analysis
  • Information Science
  • Instructions
  • Measurement
  • Probability
  • Social Sciences
  • Statistical Tests
  • Statistics
  • Students
  • Technicians

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.