Applying the Rasch Model: Fundamental Measurement in the Human Sciences, Second Edition

This book is very illustrative about Rasch model. I have read some books about this topic but many of them are written for people with a previous knowledge about Rasch, so I think this book is like the first step to introduce you to Rasch analysis.

This is a heavy reading text book about the Rasch Model. It is quite detailed but it reads well. It provides good examples for the researcher to follow.

It's a very good textbook for introducing Rasch model. The content is easy to understand. If you are trying to learn Rasch model from beginning, it's a really good book.

A great book - provides many good examples to illustrate and explain points made; translates a complex theory into an accessible text for students and practitioners from all backgrounds.Highly recommended as a first text in the area of modern measurement for social science; medical and other areas.

This is a reasonable introduction to some aspects of Rasch modeling that could stand considerable improvement come, as almost certainly there will, a third edition.Reading the book is an annoyance because of the very large numbers of copy editing mistakes. For example, the text in the first paragraph on page 249 makes reference to information in a figure that is clearly not in the figure referred to. The table on page 245 is printed the wrong way, with tabs between decimal points and the figures on the right, making it seem as if, for example, the item estimate for the item in question is an absurd 33.0 or even 330. The text is full of such mistakes. Practically speaking, one might argue that such printing errors are actually useful to those who wish to understand the text, inasmuch as the ability to notice that such mistakes are mistakes functions as a check on the depth of one's understanding. On the other hand, I fear to think what those with no background in Rasch models would make of the page 245 table.Rasch models are (at least in the circles I move in) notorious for the difficulty of explanitory texts, this despite the simplicity of the concepts involved. (Rasch models in testing, for example, are much simplier than those for traditional true-score treatments of testing, but the true-score tradition abounds with clear writers who aim for and hit audiences of novices.)This book does a little to make Rasch model concepts more clear to less-initiated readers, but the tone of the text often flips between clarity, with all new concepts explained clearly, and academic prose for the initiated only (as in the discussion of residuals interpretation). Likewise, though the text includes much data from actual tests or research projects, there is a lack of any actual items or item stems from the tests or research from which the examples are drawn. The invented examples here (e.g., with Chapter 7, on rating scale design) are poorly thought out and do not betray familiarity with relevant literature.The organization of the text could be improved as well. Although the included glossory is an aid, keeping topic for the most part in one place in the book would make it much more useful for beginners: information on fit interpretation, for example, is spread throughout the text, with information that would illuminate introductory writing about fit being delayed until Chapter 12.Criticisms aside, however, "Applying the Rasch Model" is fun to read (at least for those somewhat familiar with probabilistic models in academia), and I do not know of a better introduction in print. On the other hand, I have not kept up with the literature of late, so perhaps there is something better than this.

Nice intro. Just great for beginners. Very helpful and easy to read. Also it's give you the best references in the field.

I think I finally understand IRT and the disk is great and the data sets are great and it gives the details on using them.

Perfect