Abstract: The aim of this article is to provide the reader who is unfamiliarwith latent trait item response theory with a simple account of the Ras-ch theory of psychological tests. After a brief theoretical introductionand some elementary derivations, an example using artificial data is pres-ented, analysed and tested for goodness of fit by .graphical methods. Someadvantages of using the simple Rasch model and disadvantages of pr-oposed extensions are discussed. The article concludes by pointing out theadvantages of this technology for the situation in China and a referencefor those who wish to take their knowledge of this topic a stagefurther.

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