Sonya Sedivy - Associate Scientist
I received my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2009. While at UWM, I worked in various research offices including the Center for Addiction and Behavioral Health Research (CABHR) and the Consulting Office for Research and Evaluation (CORE), within the School of Education. I also taught an introductory Statistics course and a graduate level course on Educational and Psychological Measurement.
Much of my research has focused on determining the effectiveness of current methods for detecting differential item functioning (DIF) under realistic data conditions. The ability to detect potentially biased test items is central to test validity; however methods for assessing DIF may become compromised under certain data conditions, such as in the presence of missing data and when sample sizes are unbalanced. My past research has investigated the power of DIF methods under these conditions and my dissertation extended this idea to look at using traditional methods for detecting DIF with testlet data.
I am very excited to be joining the team at Testing & Evaluation Services and the UW Center for Placement Testing. As the Assistant Scientist, some of my responsibilities include overseeing the development of the UW placement tests, providing measurement and statistical support for test development, and conducting research related to the placement testing program.