The Definition of Test Items: A Descriptive Approach

An approach is described for the characterization of test questions in terms of (1) the information in a passage relevant to answering them, and (2) the nature of the relationship of this information to the questions. The approach offers several advantages over previous proposals based on the specification of algorithms for the production of all possible members of a class of test items. Among these are (a) the ability to consider information in a passage that relates to a question but is not part of the text segment from which it was generated, and (b) a relative lack of reliance on procedures for uniquely assigning a structural description to the text.