Inter-Subtest Branching in Computerized Adaptive Testing

This study compared three inter-subtest branching methods used in the CAT procedures. The inter-subtest branching methods were based on multiple correlation to decide the order of presentation of the subtests for use of multiple repression with the preceding subtests to predict the initial trait level for the current subtest. One thousand simulees were used for item calibration, and 200 simulees were used for the CAT procedures. Results comparing various branching methods in terms of test length did not reveal distinct differences. It was concluded that branching based on raw scores yielded better results than the other competing methods, however, the differences among various methods were not large enough to make a practical distinction.