THE EFFECTS OF MISSING DATA TREATMENT ON PERSON ABILITY ESTIMATES USING IRT MODELS

Unplanned missing responses are common to surveys and tests including large scale assessments. There has been an ongoing debate on how missing responses should be handled and some approaches are preferred over others, especially in the context of the item response theory (IRT) models. In this context, examinees’ abilities are normally estimated with the missing responses generally ignored or treated as incorrect. Most of the studies that have explored the performance of missing data handling approaches have used simulated data. This study uses the SERCE (UNESCO, 2006) dataset and missingness pattern to evaluate the performance of three approaches: treating omitted as incorrect, midpoint imputation, and multiple imputation with and without auxiliary variables. Using the Rasch and 2PL models, the results showed that treating omitted as incorrect had a reduced average error in the estimation of ability but tended to underestimate the examinee’s ability. Multiple imputation with and without auxiliary variables had similar performances to one another. Consequently, the use of auxiliary variable may not harm the estimation, but it can become an unnecessary burden during the imputation process. The midpoint imputation did not differ much from multiple imputation in its performance and thus should be preferred over the latter for practical reasons. The main implication is that SERCE might have underestimated the student’s ability. Limitations and further directions are discussed. Adviser: R. J. De Ayal

THE EFFECTS OF MISSING DATA TREATMENT ON PERSON ABILITY ESTIMATES USING IRT MODELS

Unplanned missing responses are common to surveys and tests including large scale assessments. There has been an ongoing debate on how missing responses should be handled and some approaches are preferred over others, especially in the context of the item response theory (IRT) models. In this context, examinees’ abilities are normally estimated with the missing responses generally ignored or treated as incorrect. Most of the studies that have explored the performance of missing data handling approaches have used simulated data. This study uses the SERCE (UNESCO, 2006) dataset and missingness pattern to evaluate the performance of three approaches: treating omitted as incorrect, midpoint imputation, and multiple imputation with and without auxiliary variables. Using the Rasch and 2PL models, the results showed that treating omitted as incorrect had a reduced average error in the estimation of ability but tended to underestimate the examinee’s ability. Multiple imputation with and without auxiliary variables had similar performances to one another. Consequently, the use of auxiliary variable may not harm the estimation, but it can become an unnecessary burden during the imputation process. The midpoint imputation did not differ much from multiple imputation in its performance and thus should be preferred over the latter for practical reasons. The main implication is that SERCE might have underestimated the student’s ability. Limitations and further directions are discussed. Adviser: R. J. De Ayal

Child-parent interactions in American and Turkish families: Examining measurement invariance analysis of child-parent relationship scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships

Child-parent Interactions in American and Turkish Families: Examining Measurement Invariance Analysis of Child-parent Relationship Scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships

Child-parent interactions in American and Turkish families: Examining measurement invariance analysis of child-parent relationship scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships

Using the Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire for Spanish-Speaking Populations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Psychometric Analysis of Dichotomized Variables

While the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Very Short Form of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ-VSF) have been assessed in the US and Europe in samples composed of middle- and high-income parents with high levels of education, no studies have tested the instrument in low-income Spanish-speaking populations living in low- and middle-income countries. To fill this gap, our cross-sectional study assessed the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the CBQ-VSF version in a sample of 315 low-income and low-educated parents with preschool children living in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. While our findings revealed problems that were similar to those identified in previous assessments of the CBQ-VSF Spanish version, they also showed unique problems related to the sociodemographic characteristics of our sample, containing many individuals with a low income and low educational level. Most of the participants gave extreme responses, resulting in a notable kurtosis and skewness of the data. This article describes how we addressed these problems by dichotomizing the variables into binary categories. Additionally, it demonstrates that merely translating the CBQ-VSF is insufficient to be able to capture many of the underlying latent constructs associated with low-income and low-educated Latino/Hispanic populations