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Series:   Elements in Quantitative and Computational Methods for the Social Sciences

Adaptive Inventories

A Practical Guide for Applied Researchers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2022

Jacob M. Montgomery  and
Erin L. Rossiter
Jacob M. Montgomery
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
Erin L. Rossiter
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana

Summary

The goal of this Element is to provide a detailed introduction to adaptive inventories, an approach to making surveys adjust to respondents' answers dynamically. This method can help survey researchers measure important latent traits or attitudes accurately while minimizing the number of questions respondents must answer. The Element provides both a theoretical overview of the method and a suite of tools and tricks for integrating it into the normal survey process. It also provides practical advice and direction on how to calibrate, evaluate, and field adaptive batteries using example batteries that measure variety of latent traits of interest to survey researchers across the social sciences.
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Keywords

survey methodscomputerized adaptive testinglatent variableactive learningmeasurement
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Quantitative and Computational Methods for the Social Sciences
Online ISBN: 9781108862516
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 28 July 2022

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