Optimal appropriateness measurement

The test-taking behavior of some examinees may be so idiosyncratic that their test scores may not be comparable to the scores of more typical examinees. Appropriateness measurement attempts to use answer patterns to recognize atypical examinees. In this report appropriateness measurement procedures are viewed as statistical tests for choosing between a null hypothesis of normal test-taking behavior and an alternative hypothesis of atypical test-taking behavior. Most powerful tests for inappropriateness are described together with methods for computing their power. A recursion greatly simplifying the calculation of optimal test statistics is described and illustrated.The work reported in this article was supported by United States Office of Naval Research contracts N00014-79C-0752, NR 154-445 and N00014-83K-0397, NR 150-518, Michael V. Levine, Principal Investigator.