Mokken Scale Analysis for Dichotomous Items Using Marginal Models

Abstract

Scalability coefficients play an important role in Mokken scale analysis. For a set of items, scalability coefficients have been defined for each pair of items, for each individual item, and for the entire scale. Hypothesis testing with respect to these scalability coefficients has not been fully developed. This study introduces marginal modelling as a framework to derive the standard errors for the scaling coefficients and test hypotheses about these coefficients. Several examples demonstrate the possibilities of marginal modelling in Mokken scale analysis. These possibilities include testing whether Mokken’s criteria for a scale are satisfied, testing whether scalability coefficients of different items are equal, and testing whether scalability coefficients are equal across different groups.