Article Published: Entropy-Based Measures for Person Fit in Item Response Theory

This article introduces three new variants of entropy to detect person misfit (E_i, EM_i, and EMR_i), and provides preliminary evidence that these measures are worthy of further investigation. Previously, entropy has been used as a measure of approximate data–model fit to quantify how well individuals are classified into latent classes, and to quantify the quality of classification and separation between groups in logistic regression models. In the current study, entropy is explored through conceptual examples and Monte Carlo simulation comparing entropy with established measures of person fit in item response theory (IRT) such as l_z, l_z*, U, and W. Simulation results indicated that EM_i and EMR_iwere successfully able to detect aberrant response patterns when comparing contaminated and uncontaminated subgroups of persons. In addition, EM_i and EMR_i performed similarly in showing separation between the contaminated and uncontaminated subgroups. However, EMR_i may be advantageous over other measures when subtests include a small number of items. EM_i and EMR_iare recommended for use as approximate person-fit measures for IRT models. These measures of approximate person fit may be useful in making relative judgments about potential persons whose response patterns do not fit the theoretical model.