Examining Class Differences in Method Effects Related to Negative Wording: An Example using Rasch Mixture Modeling

This study presents a mixture Rasch-based approach to investigating method effects associated with negatively worded items to illustrate how responses to this method effect vary depending on group characteristics. Using college students' responses on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (Rosenberg, M., 1989), four latent classes were identified using six personality measures associated with the presence of this method effect. In addition, Rasch-based parameter estimates suggested latent classes differed in their use of the scale, showing that the method effect associated with negatively worded items may be more prominent for subjects possessing selected personality traits than for others. The mixture model approach to investigating method effects provides a way to address systematic methodological variation that is left unaccounted when a heterogeneous population is analyzed as one group.