Estimating person parameters via item response model and simple sum score in small samples with few polytomous items: A simulation study

Background The Item Response Theory (IRT) is becoming increasingly popular for item analysis. Theoretical considerations and simulation studies suggest that parameter estimates will become precise only by utilizing many items in large samples. Method A simulation study focusing on a single scale was performed on data with (a) n = 40, 60, 80, 120, 200, 300, 500, and 900 cases utilizing (b) 4, 8, 16, or 32 items. The items were (c) symmetrically distributed vs. skew (skewness 0, 1, and 2). Item loadings were (d) homogeneous vs. heterogeneous. Item loadings were (e) low vs. high. Half of the items had (f) a correlated error or not. The number of answering categories (g) was four vs. five. A to…