Test difficulty value defined as ratio of observed to maximum score vector length times cosine of their angle equals test mean divided by number of items¶
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Evidence · 1 study · theoreticalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2024: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
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q2 i? Difficulty value of a test (DiffT) equals the ratio of the length of the observed score vector to the length of the ideal vector multiplied by cos∅, which equals the test mean divided by m, with higher values indicating an easier test. → Chakrabartty 2021
Evidence¶
Chakrabartty 2021¶
Chakrabartty, S. N. (2021). Assessment of item and test parameters: Cosine similarity approach. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 8(3), 28-38. https://dx.doi.org/10.52380/ijpes.2021.8.3.190
q2 · i? · theoretical · r2
Empirical verification on a 50-item Selection Test administered to 911 candidates (n=911, m=50). Applying the cosine definition, the article reports DiffT = 0.409901, concluding the "Test was moderately difficult".
"By (1.3), 𝐷𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑇 = ‖𝑋‖ ‖𝐼‖ cos ∅ = 𝑋̅ 𝑚 = 0.409901⇒ Test was moderately difficult"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Theoretically defined test reliability computable from a single administration via parallel-half vector lengths and angle exceeds split-half reliability but falls below Cronbach alpha — related
- Test discriminating value equals the coefficient of variation of test scores (tan∅ = SD/mean) — related
- Item discriminating value as coefficient of variation decreases monotonically as number of correct answers increases, giving a negative difficulty–discrimination relationship — related
- Point-biserial item-total correlation is negatively related to test discriminating value and can be expressed via item and test difficulty and discrimination parameters — related
- Intersection point k0 of item difficulty and discriminating curves provides a data-driven item-deletion criterion — related
- Learned difficulty parameters show a moderate positive correlation with empirical KC difficulty on QATD2k — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
test-difficulty-value-cosine-definition |
title |
Test difficulty value defined as ratio of observed to maximum score vector length times cosine of their angle equals test mean divided by number of items |
description |
Test difficulty value defined as ratio of observed to maximum score vector length times cosine of their angle equals test mean divided by number of items |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
recheck_by |
2024 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-09-25 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — chakrabartty-2021 |
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