Book Review:
Introduction to Rasch Measurement: Theory, Models, and Application

Published by JAM Press (2004), ISBN: 0-9755351-1-0. www.jampress.org
JAM library recommendation form

This comprehensive anthology of 701 pages with contributions from the Journal of Applied Measurement and a few other chapters is edited by Everett Smith and Richard Smith.

First, this book fills a clear and important need in the understanding and development of Rasch measurement. Almost all of us have suggested to someone that they get a copy of the 25 year old Best Test Design or keep a file drawer of articles on particular topics. Recently, we've had the readable contribution of Bond and Fox; Applying the Rasch Model, but it's very timely that someone put the best thought from last 2 decades of work into a primary source. Whether used for university instruction or as a desk reference, I think the book is extremely valuable for our times.

Richard and Everett have divided the text into 3 sections: Theory, Models, and Applications. Being good Rasch practitioners, they have also logically ordered chapters within sections with beginning concepts first so that chapters, even though from different authors, follow each other well. There are subject and author indexes, and all chapters have references. The book is extremely well-presented with clear figures, consistent presentation of equations, and leveled headers. In short, it's pretty easy to navigate the book looking for any particular topic, and I applaud the editors for the organization.

I think this book is just the right thing for those at the beginner stage who want to increase their understanding of Rasch models, or test developers who face an applied problem which they don't know how to handle. Along with the examples in the book and the references to modern software (Winsteps, Facets, RUMM, and Conquest), most test developers will find an answer or explanation to interpretation of all the most common Rasch applications. As a reader for graduate students, the book is seriously under-priced for those students who often pay $50 for something from the copy shop that's poorly printed or $120 for a textbook that is hardly readable!

Because the book consists of different authors writing originally for a journal, there are a few inconsistencies in the use of formula conventions, and some short-changed topics that beg for more discussion, but overall these are minor issues. In fact, the editors have demonstrated their awareness of the field by choosing the best authors for topics that fit (pun intended) the best thinking of those individuals: methods by Linacre, fit statistics by R. Smith, controversies by Andrich, standard setting by Stone.

Novices to the Rasch model won't necessarily notice or know the chapter authors, but they may wonder why popular names in the references aren't represented as chapter authors. By this logic, the book could have benefited with some chapters from some missing authors who didn't have contributions in JAM, but may have been logical additions for a basic collection of this type: Engelhard, Fisher, Masters, etc. Hopefully, the editors will make efforts to get some of those others into the new collection which they are working on now.

Overall, this is an excellent collection of excellent writing. The book is a logical overview of the Rasch model as it stands today that doesn't exist in this detail elsewhere. Introduction to Rasch Measurement should be useful for library collections, as a desk reference for test developers, or as a course supplement.

Steve Lang

University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Book Review: Introduction to Rasch Measurement: Theory, Models, and Application, S. Lang … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 2005, 18:4 p. 9

Rasch Books and Publications
Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 2nd Edn. George Engelhard, Jr. & Jue Wang	Applying the Rasch Model (Winsteps, Facets) 4th Ed., Bond, Yan, Heene	Advances in Rasch Analyses in the Human Sciences (Winsteps, Facets) 1st Ed., Boone, Staver	Advances in Applications of Rasch Measurement in Science Education, X. Liu & W. J. Boone	Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences (Winsteps) Boone, Staver, Yale
Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets), Thomas Eckes	Statistical Analyses for Language Testers (Facets), Rita Green	Invariant Measurement with Raters and Rating Scales: Rasch Models for Rater-Mediated Assessments (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Stefanie Wind	Aplicação do Modelo de Rasch (Português), de Bond, Trevor G., Fox, Christine M	Appliquer le modèle de Rasch: Défis et pistes de solution (Winsteps) E. Dionne, S. Béland
Exploring Rating Scale Functioning for Survey Research (R, Facets), Stefanie Wind	Rasch Measurement: Applications, Khine	Winsteps Tutorials - free Facets Tutorials - free	Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets) - free, J.M. Linacre	Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Winsteps, Facets), McNamara, Knoch, Fan
Other Rasch-Related Resources: Rasch Measurement YouTube Channel
Rasch Measurement Transactions & Rasch Measurement research papers - free	An Introduction to the Rasch Model with Examples in R (eRm, etc.), Debelak, Strobl, Zeigenfuse	Rasch Measurement Theory Analysis in R, Wind, Hua	Applying the Rasch Model in Social Sciences Using R, Lamprianou	El modelo métrico de Rasch: Fundamentación, implementación e interpretación de la medida en ciencias sociales (Spanish Edition), Manuel González-Montesinos M.
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar	Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch	Rasch Models for Measurement, David Andrich	Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson	Best Test Design - free, Wright & Stone Rating Scale Analysis - free, Wright & Masters
Virtual Standard Setting: Setting Cut Scores, Charalambos Kollias	Diseño de Mejores Pruebas - free, Spanish Best Test Design	A Course in Rasch Measurement Theory, Andrich, Marais	Rasch Models in Health, Christensen, Kreiner, Mesba	Multivariate and Mixture Distribution Rasch Models, von Davier, Carstensen

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