Module 42: Simulation Studies in Psychometrics

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Simulation studies are fundamental to psychometric discourse and play a crucial role in operational and academic research. Yet, resources for psychometricians interested in conducting simulations are scarce. This Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement Series (ITEMS) module is meant to address this deficiency by providing a comprehensive introduction to the topic of simulation that can be easily understood by measurement specialists at all levels of training and experience. Specifically, this module describes the vocabulary used in simulations, reviews their applications in recent literature, and recommends specific guidelines for designing simulation studies and presenting results. Additionally, an example (including computer code in R) is given to demonstrate how common aspects of simulation studies can be implemented in practice and to provide a template to help users build their own simulation.

Keywords: bias, experimental design, mean absolute difference, MAD, mean squared error, MSE, root mean squared error, RMSE, psychometrics, R, research design, simulation study, standard error

Richard A. Feinberg

National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, PA

Richard Feinberg is a Senior Psychometrician with NBME, where he leads and oversees the data analysis and score reporting activities for large-scale high-stakes licensure and credentialing examinations. He is also an Assistant Professor at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, where he teaches a course on Research Methods and Statistics.

His research interests include psychometric applications in the fields of educational and psychological testing.

He earned a PhD in Research Methodology and Evaluation from the University of Delaware, Newark, DE.

Jonathan D. Rubright

National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, PA

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Module 42: Conducting Simulation Studies in Psychometrics
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Appendix R Code (2017)
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Q3 Plot (2017)
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Q4 Plot (2017)
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Q5 Plot (2017)
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Self-test Q3 R Code (2017)
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Self-test Q4 R Code (2017)
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Self-test Q5 R Code (2017)
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