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2 - Psychometrics and Psychological Assessment

from Part I - General Issues in Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2019

By
John Hunsley  and
Teresa Allan
Edited by
Martin Sellbom  and
Julie A. Suhr
Martin Sellbom
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Julie A. Suhr
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Summary

In this chapter, we address the key psychometric concepts of standardization, reliability, validity, norms, and utility. In doing so, we focus primarily on classical test theory (CTT) – the psychometric framework most commonly used in the clinical assessment literature – which disaggregates a person’s observed score into true score and error components. Given its growing use with psychological instruments, we also present basic information on aspects of item response theory (IRT). In contrast to CTT, IRT assumes that some test items are more relevant than other items for evaluating a person’s true score and that the extent to which an item accurately measures a person’s ability can differ across ability levels. After presenting the central aspects of these two frameworks, we conclude the chapter with a discussion of the need to consider cultural/diversity issues in the development, validation, and use of psychological instruments.

Keywords

standardizationreliabilityvaliditynormsutilityclassical test theoryitem response theory
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis , pp. 9 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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