title: Applying computerized adaptive testing to the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised: Rasch analysis of workplace bullying.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Workplace bullying is a prevalent problem in contemporary work places that has adverse effects on both the victims of bullying and organizations. With the rapid development of computer technology in recent years, there is an urgent need to prove whether item response theory-based computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can be applied to measure exposure to workplace bullying.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative efficiency and measurement precision of a CAT-based test for hospital nurses compared to traditional nonadaptive testing (NAT). Under the preliminary conditions of a single domain derived from the scale, a CAT module bullying scale model with polytomously scored items is provided as an example for evaluation purposes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 300 nurses were recruited and responded to the 22-item Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). All NAT (or CAT-selected) items were calibrated with the Rasch rating scale model and all respondents were randomly selected for a comparison of the advantages of CAT and NAT in efficiency and precision by paired t tests and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The NAQ-R is a unidimensional construct that can be applied to measure exposure to workplace bullying through CAT-based administration. Nursing measures derived from both tests (CAT and NAT) were highly correlated (r=.97) and their measurement precisions were not statistically different (P=.49) as expected. CAT required fewer items than NAT (an efficiency gain of 32%), suggesting a reduced burden for respondents. There were significant differences in work tenure between the 2 groups (bullied and nonbullied) at a cutoff point of 6 years at 1 worksite. An AUROC of 0.75 (95% CI 0.68-0.79) with logits greater than -4.2 (or >30 in summation) was defined as being highly likely bullied in a workplace.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With CAT-based administration of the NAQ-R for nurses, their burden was substantially reduced without compromising measurement precision.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Ching
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Tsair-Wei
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Hsiu-Hung
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-Chi
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mei-Shu
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Yui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058445:Bullying; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009726:Nurses; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: classic test theory; computer on wheels; computerized adaptive testing; item response theory; nonadaptive testing; the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised