Item Text

The standard for item information

We have begun to incorporate the text of the items used to produce stimuli in the IRW. This information is available here. A list of tables with item text can be generated using the irw_list_itemtext_tables() function (via the irw package).

These data are structured as follows:

  • table This identifier can be used to link to the IRW response data.

  • section_id This is an identifier for a group of items that share a common context. It is conceptually equivalent to the item_family element in the IRW standard and is used to annotate information about, for example, testlets (i.e., items grouped under a single reading passage).

  • item This is a persistent identifier for the probe being used to measure, matching the item field in the core IRW dataset.

  • instrument This is the full, human-readable name or title for the instrument identified by the table column.

  • instructions This contains the literal text of the instructions provided to the participant for the overall instrument.

  • section_prompt This contains the literal text of a shared prompt, such as a reading passage, that applies to all items within a given section_id.

  • item_text This is the literal text of the specific prompt or question associated with an item.

  • correct_response This is the scoring key for a given item. This field is left blank for items that do not have a correct response. For items with multiple correct answers, values are separated by a semicolon.

  • option_text This is the literal text for a specific response option available for an item.

  • resp This is the response value assigned to a specific option_text. It should match the numeric, ordinal resp value found in the response-level IRW dataset.

Some additional notes about the item text

  • In some cases, we do not have ready access to the ‘key’ which would allow us to translate multiple choice options into scored responses. The item response data will have a scored response in the resp column in such cases while the item text will retain the categorical option in the resp_raw column.
  • When items are prompting some kind of behavior that gets scored, there may not always be text associated with individual resp values.

Incorporation with the IRW response data

This dataset is designed to be interoperable with the core IRW item response data. Specifically, the table identifer should allow for merging across these two data resources. Researchers can link these item text records to response-level data using the item field, which serves as a shared, persistent identifier across both datasets.

To incorporate response option text, the resp field in this dataset provides a mapping between response codes (consistent with resp in the response-level data) and their corresponding option_text. This allows users to reconstruct full item presentations or analyze response behavior with access to the literal item wording. Below is an example of how the data can be merged (so that each row contains information about a single response, including information about the probe used to solicit information from the respondent).

Code 
items<-irw::irw_itemtext("gilbert_meta_49")
df<-irw::irw_fetch("gilbert_meta_49")
df<-merge(items,df)
head(df)
item resp table section_id instrument instructions section_prompt item_text correct_response option_text id cluster_id wave treat cov_age cov_any_school cov_literate cov_income
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 54 77 2 0 35 1 1 NA
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 44 69 1 0 26 1 1 20000
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 148 15 1 1 26 1 0 1000
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 188 5 1 1 22 1 1 2000
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 120 19 2 1 NA 1 1 45000
constant_fat 0 gilbert_meta_49 srq20_1 Psychological Distress (SRQ-20) in an RCT The following questions are related to certain pains and problems, that may have bothered you in the last 30 days. If you think the question applies to you and you had to describe the problem in the last 30 days, answer YES. On the other hand, if the question does not apply to you and you did not have the problem in the last 30 days, answer NO. NA Do you feel tired all the time? NA No 180 17 1 0 40 0 0 3000

Merging these datasets allows for a more complete view of the data, including:

  • The full wording of each item and response option
  • Analysis of how item phrasing may influence responses
  • Richer visualizations and content-based filtering