Conceptually, a theory is a system of explanation for observed phenomena (e.g., gravity describes attraction between two or more bodies). Statistically, a theory is a statement of relation between two or more variables (e.g., how items on a test should relate; how students should respond to a treatment). While many statistics can simply be calculated from data, contemporary measurement uses models which can be tested for fit against data. That is, these measurement models may fail to conform to our theoretical expectation—our theories can be wrong. Often, we can test multiple, rival theories against data in order to find the best explanation.
Related work:
Rivera, M.C., Catalano, J.A., Branum-Martin, L., Lederberg, A.R., & Antia, S.D. (in press) “The quality of teaching behaviors in learning environments of deaf and hard of hearing students.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. doi: 10.1093/deafed/enad046
Nightingale, E., Branum-Martin, L., & Greenberg, D. (in press) “Modeling the relations between reading skills and assessment methods in adults who struggle with foundational reading skills.” Reading and Writing. doi: 10.1007/s11145-022-10384-1
Branum-Martin, L. (2023, June) “Complex designs which stretch the boundaries of conventional IRT.” Symposium conducted at the Modern Modeling Methods Conference, Storrs, CT.
- Branum-Martin, L., Washington, J.A., & Rhodes, K.T. (2023, June) “Multinomial models for unpacking linguistically informative response choices: test structure and item function.” Paper presented at the Modern Modeling Methods Conference, Storrs, CT.
- Yan, E.F. & Branum-Martin, L. (2023, June) “Picturing the impossible: Pictures, repetitions, and item-set card effects in measuring vocabulary.” Paper presented at the Modern Modeling Methods Conference, Storrs, CT.
Branum-Martin, L., & Washington, J.A. (2022, July) “Dialects, differences, and multilingualism.” Symposium conducted at the 29th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Newport Beach, CA.
- Branum-Martin, L., Washington, J.A., & Rhodes, K.T. (2022, July) “DELV-ing into the psychometrics of dialect.” Paper presented at the 29th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Newport Beach, CA.
- Lee-James, R., Branum-Martin, L., & Washington, J.A. (2022, July) “Morphological awareness versus dialect in the Test of Language Development.” Paper presented at the 29th annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Newport Beach, CA.
Branum-Martin, L., Rhodes, K.T., Sun, C., Washington, J.A., & Webb, M.Y. (2019) “Developing a longitudinal scale for language: linking across developmentally different versions of the same test.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62(6) 1859-1874. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0362
Puranik, C., Branum-Martin, L., & Washington, J.A. (2019) “The relation between dialect density and the co-development of writing and reading in African-American children.” Child Development 91(4) 866-882. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13318
Sun, C., Branum-Martin, L., Peng, P., & Tao, S. (2018) “Phonology, orthography, and decoding skills within and across English and Chinese.” Scientific Studies of Reading 22(5), 401-419. doi: 10.1080/10888438.2018.1466302
Lederberg, A.R., Branum-Martin, L., Webb, M., Schick, B., Antia, S., Easterbrooks, S.R., & Connor, C.M. (2019) “Modality and interrelations among language, reading, spoken phonological awareness, and fingerspelling.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 24(4), 408-423. doi: 10.1093/deafed/enz011
Washington, J.A., Branum-Martin, L., Sun, C., & Lee-James, R. (2018) “The impact of dialect density on the growth of language and reading in African American children.” Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools 49(2), 232-247. doi: 10.1044/2018_LSHSS-17-0063 (winner of the 2019 LSHSS Editor’s Award)
Washington, J.A., Branum-Martin, L., Lee-James, R., & Sun, C. (2019) “Reading and language performance of low-income, African American boys in grades 1 to 5.” Reading & Writing Quarterly 35(1), 42-64. doi: 10.1080/10573569.2018.1535777 (reprinted in S.A. Robinson & C. Thompson (Eds.) Promoting Academic Readiness for African American Males with Dyslexia. New York: Routledge)
Rhodes, K.T., Lukowski, S., Branum-Martin, L., Opfer, J., Geary, D.C., & Petrill, S.A. (2019) “Individual differences in addition strategy choice: A psychometric evaluation.” Journal of Educational Psychology 111(3), 414-433. doi: 10.1037/edu0000294
Sun, C.Y., Branum-Martin, L., Tao, S., & Peng, P. (2017, February). “Phonology, Orthography and Decoding Skills within and across English and Chinese. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Pacific Coast Research Conference (PCRC), California, USA.
Rhodes, K.T., Branum-Martin, L., Washington, J.A., & Fuchs, L.S. (2017) “Measuring arithmetic: A psychometric approach to understanding formatting effects and domain specificity.” Journal of Educational Psychology 109(7), 956-976. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 120(6), 542-568. doi: 10.1352/1944-7558-120.6.542
Webb, M.Y., Lederberg, A, Branum-Martin, L., & Connor, C.M. (2015) “Evaluating the structure of early literacy skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing children.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 20(4), 343-355. doi: 10.1093/deafed/env024
Branum-Martin, L., Tao, S., & Garnaat, S. (2015). “Bilingual phonological awareness: Reexamining the evidence for relations within and across languages.” Journal of Educational Psychology 107(1), 111-125. doi: 10.1037/a0037149