Inferences made from summary indices of psychometric scales
must be reliable and valid to advance scientific knowledge in
counseling psychology. This article illustrates traditional and
innovative uses of the Rasch model in the development and validation
of small- and large-scale psychological instruments. Discussion of
traditional uses of the Rasch model included reliability and
validity of scale scores, whereas discussion of innovative uses
included (a) determining the optimal number of response categories
for Likert-type items and (b) obtaining a measure of response style
for each person. Both mathematical and conceptual explanations are
provided, and counseling psychology data are used to illustrate
examples.
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