Publications & Resources

Evidentiary Relationships Among Data-Gathering Methods and Reporting Scales in Surveys of Educational Achievement

Apr 2003

Robert J. Mislevy

Large-scale surveys of educational attainment gather data about the proficiencies of a sample of students to support inferences about the distribution in the populations. Several approaches to gathering data have been used, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Several scales have also been used to bring results together from different students and different test forms. This paper lays out the evidentiary relationships between data gathered under five methods and inferences framed in terms of six reporting metrics. “Marketbasket reporting” receives special attention.

Mislevy, R. J. (2003). Evidentiary relationships among data-gathering methods and reporting scales in surveys of educational achievement (CSE Report 595). Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).