The M/I Frequencies: A Quick and Computation-Free Non-Parametric Method of Test Item Evaluation

Abstract

The Medians per Item (M/I) frequency distribution technique suggests a new perspective in test item evaluation, dealing with an individual at a time and yielding a graphic distribution to show how effectively each item predicted the central score of each S. It may be used to detect heterogeneous items (to improve test efficiency) or to detect excessively representative items (to use in lieu of the rest or as a format for new items). Only significant M/I results are interpretable; for more complete item analysis the traditional correlation methods are recommended as a supplement.