2017 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 83-99
Multiple correspondence analysis is applied to binary data encoded from examinees’responses to test items, which compose prototypes of tests with the intention of measuring university applicants’basic academic abilities of two areas:“Practical Reading”and“Mathematical Thinking”. The abilities to be measured in each area are further classified into a lower level and each test item has classification labels attached in advance. A three-dimensional solution is obtained and compared to the labels of the classified abilities attached to each item. The first dimension is interpreted as general basic academic abilities. The second dimension divides the items that require the handling of numbers and formulas or understanding of relatively simple rules, and the items that require the handling of logical problems. The third dimension expresses the necessity of higher-order thinking. The interpretation supports the validity of the prototype, although the cumulative percentage of eigenvalues up to the third dimension is low and the efficiency of dimensional reduction is moderate. The test quality could be improved by the development of more difficult items and/or collecting data of examinees with a wide range of abilities, so that more items contribute to differentiate the abilities of collected examinees.
